Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

This has an old fashioned gospel soul feel that never goes out of fashion. Rev Tina Redden's voice that dominates these recordings is reminiscent of the classic gospel sounds of a Clara Ward or a Dorothy Love Coates as she demonstrates she can swoop, holler and testify with the best of them. The group seem satisfied to sit on a groove and let the Rev do her thing. The majority of tracks are either inspirational material like "If I Had A Hammer" and "Down By The Riverside" or gospel remakes of classic soul tracks. I guess the soul stars stole from the church and Spirit Of Truth are just stealing it back! Highlights include "Lead Me Jesus" which is a steal of Sam & Dave's "Soothe Me Baby" and "Thinkin' Bout Jesus" which is a gospel remake of Otis Redding's "Dock Of The Bay". I do like this a lot but the recording quality is a little lo-fi, whether this is to intentionally create an original retro sound, I'm not sure. And to be honest I'm being careful what I say here because the group bio indicates that just about everybody in it except for Rev Redden is a black belt in karate!

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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