Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Nottingham-based singer/pianist Debbie Lord has teamed up with some musical friends to record and release a set of nine worship songs that were written by Lord over a 20 year period. Undeniably centred on praising God at every turn, Lord's songs communicate something of her own personal experiences whilst attempting to encourage others to find Jesus. However, from a musical and artistic standpoint, this release unfortunately doesn't cut the mustard with a number of factors ultimately detracting from Debbie's admirable desire to share God's love through song. For a start, the dear lady tends to use well-worn praise song phrases that have been heard countless times before - for example "be lifted high", "Lord shine your light on us" and "be glorified today" all appear in "Lord Pour Out Your Spirit" - whilst the meditative "Glory" has more than a passing resemblance to David Fellingham's worship standard "God Of Glory, We Exalt Your Name". With most of the tracks being delivered in mid-paced fashion with little instrumental variety, it all sounds as though it's been done before in a style that now sounds out-dated and samey. In addition, there are some fairly major tonality and precision issues vocally that should really have been ironed out before the final mix and perhaps the option of dropping the key on some of the tracks would have helped the overall delivery. Backed by a band containing percussion, bass, acoustic guitar, clarinet and violin, Lord and her friends make a good stab at trying to make the songs work but, all too often, the group sound more like the local church's worship band trying out a few new numbers at a midweek rehearsal instead of offering up something listenable. A lengthy adaptation of the old hymn "Praise My Soul" with some valiant but out of tune soloing at the end closes a release that requires substantially more work to be anything more than a keepsake for Lord's friends and family.

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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