Reviewed by Stella Redburn

12 new songs emanating from the Elevate Life Church in Texas, sung and played with a huge amount of energy before a live congregation. The fast songs are exciting with strong bass and drums and rock-orientated vocals while the slower numbers are melodically engaging and simple to join in. Four of the songs have a female lead vocalist. Unfortunately, many of the lyrics are predictable. I realise that often they are straight Scripture quotes but that hasn't prevented them sounding rather stilted. Not always, though. On the song "Hope" the words "every knee will bow and every tongue confess your name Jesus" jumped off the track at me while "Jesus Savior" builds into a real groove of praise with its catchy tune. I loved the relentless rhythm and the fun guitar riffs of "Our Savior's Come" and "Only My God" has a lovely interplay between the vocalist and the lead guitar. Their creative pastor, Clay Jones, says, "Our ultimate goal for 'More' is that it creates an atmosphere where faith, hope and love are elevated in people' lives." Many of these tracks would do just that.

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.