Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Derek Tripp hails from Aberdeen and describes himself as a songwriter, guitarist and singer. This second album comprises 10 songs that aim "to bring the listener closer to God and to hear from him". Musically they sit broadly within the folk and rock genres, with a healthy dose of country flavouring. Lyrically the songs echo both the Psalms and prophetic books in style, summarised by the title which is taken from the track "Glimpses Of Glory", which seeks various glimpses of the Lord's glory, a longing for his presence. Derek is obviously a competent guitarist, his acoustic playing in particular being emotive and sensitive, and he has obviously put a lot of creative thought into the arrangements, but the overall production is seriously let down by woodenness of the (presumably programmed) drums, especially the fills, which badly loosen the timing and, most importantly of all, the weakness of his voice. Derek seems to regularly lose both power and control of his pitch, particularly when changing register. In terms of songs, the highlight for me is "Wheel Within Wheels", which has an atmospheric intro leading into a lovely verse melody line and an interesting song structure reminiscent of a rock opera/concept album style...you want it to evolve into a 15 minute track! The chorus "You tear down, you build up, you break forth, we worship", depicts the way God builds up his people when we're not in the right place. However, even this song is marred by the vocals. I'd suggest on one hand that Derek needs to either work on the drum programming or hire a drummer, and on the other hand work to build up his pitch and power...or bring in another vocalist.

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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