Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Songwriter Jon Hart has a talent for penning memorable, moving material soaked in Scripture and bundled up into an accessible, easy pop style. For me this brought back many memories of the earliest Christian music I ever heard in the days when Christian music songs were obviously about the Lord! No coded lyrics, no watering down the message but instead songs that are designed to refresh the soul and communicate biblical themes. The up tempo "He Calls My Name" gets this set underway with smooth pop rock sounds and some chunky rhythms. The title cut "ICQ (Ps 63)" is another powerful song (it stands for I seek you - geddit?) and a pattern quickly emerges. Strong musical contributions, tight vocals and songs that hit the heart, this actually has a bit of a west coast feel to it. Other highlights include the moving "Sophia's Song", which was written for friends whose daughter had died, and the song "Honestly" explores the pain of grief and the healing of God. The subdued blues pop of "Don't Give Up On Me" underpins the important message of faithfulness that we need to pursue in our endeavours for God. 'ICQ (Ps 63)' is a well produced, top quality, independent release with well crafted songs that hit the mark.

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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