Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Marking 25 years since their first album together, Grammy Award-winning arranger, producer, choir director and songwriter Donald has reunited with the Tri-City Singers to offer up a stunning concept album based around the biblical premise of Goshen. As explained in one of Lawrence's narrated sections that link this album together, the ancient Egyptian region of Goshen has become a metaphor for being in a place of protected peace through God despite all that's going on around and, thanks to the word being found in the book Exodus, this piece naturally hones in on the persecution of the Hebrew people by Pharaoh and their subsequent escape whilst neatly relating all of this to present day issues and challenges. For instance, "He Heard My Cry" - featuring Chicago-based rapper Sir The Baptist - puts forward the notion that we all have a "pharaoh" inside of us (fear, doubt, et cetera) whilst the sublime "Let My People Go" sees New Orleans hip-hop outfit Tank And The Bangas project God's Pharaoh-directed demands onto a backdrop of modern day social injustice. Lawrence has become famous for his slick and inventive gospel productions - the aforementioned Sir The Baptist aptly calls it "choral theatre" according to the Black Gospel website - and this album sees the experienced artist pull out all the stops in order to communicate the message of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds with ingenuity, power and style. Samples, soundbites and snatches of old spirituals are thrown into the melting pot along with elements of modern day gospel and hip-hop whilst a guest list as long as your arm - Le'Andria Johnson, Jekalyn Carr, the Murrills, Sheri Jones-Moffett and many more - helps makes this an album quite literally of biblical proportions.

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.

This track data is supplied by the Cross Rhythms CD/DVD review library. Please note that CD tracks may vary according to release region or product version.