Reviewed by John Baugh

There seems no end to the encouragement available at the hands of the growing number of God's people out there writing, performing and recording good songs to the advantage of us all. Charlie is yet another one with a whole bunch (or raft as the modern parlance has it) of good things going for him; thoughtful roots/pop songs, able musicians and singers and great audience rapport (as shown by the three live tracks included). His songs like many are straightforward, based around this every day Christian life of ours, unglamorous but easy to relate to and be built up by. Straightforward is also the key to the instrumentation, mostly just acoustic guitar, vocals and bass, fleshed out on occasion by backing vocals and a groovy line in synth brass. Drawbacks? Not many, a couple of bluesy rock numbers whilst being very good in themselves do stand out a little odd against the rest. However I suspect that these are a taster of the different styles Charlie could turn his hand to and produce worthwhile results. This is also a tape which shows that modern studio costs should not be allowed to keep such good things hidden, us listeners simply ought to take it as it is and enjoy the music not the production. Altogether worth encouraging.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.