Reviewed by Peter Dilley

Unlike John Tussey's 1998 album 'Free Flow', which combined instrumental versions of popular worship songs with his own compositions, all of the material on 'Serenity' were penned by the Hawaii-based keyboard virtuoso. It sets out to be "peaceful, restful, inspiring and relaxing," and tracks range from the piano-led "Living Water Flowing" and "Love Never Fails", to the soothing multi-layered synthesiser sounds of "Soft Breeze" and "In Quietness And Rest", all aiming to "bring you to another place." It certainly is very mellow and peaceful and in that sense it achieves what John set out to do. I guess it depends what you're looking for, but for me the absence of any familiar melodies as reference points did perhaps seem a bit of a drawback. Collections of instrumental arrangements of worship songs do exist in abundance though, so as a backdrop for time simply waiting on God, 'Serenity' may be just what you need.

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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