Reviewed by Ian Hayter

It's been a while since we've heard anything much from the gifted South African singer and guitarist. Brought up in a shanty town on the outskirts of Cape Town, Jonathan's prodigious talent was recognised when he was signed to Jive Records in his early teens. He brought out a string of excellent albums in the '80s and early '90s and had a worldwide hit with his Grammy nominated single "Lies" (which reached number 18 in Britain in 1987). You can read about his early output in CR4. For a long time now he has had a desire to produce a worship album and, finally, here it is. Produced by Butler himself, the 12 tracks on this offering feature eight penned by the singer (the others include David Ruis' "I Will Worship" and "Lord I Lift Your Name On High" by Rick Founds). Butler's silky, soulful vocals are much in evidence, as is his trademark township guitar sound, and there is some catchily rhythmic percussion. All in all, it's a good album but it seems to lack something of the real vitality of his earlier, commercial songs and I had the feeling that his work had somehow been squeezed into the Maranatha! mould. I'm not keen on his interpretation of other people's songs (that's probably a personal thing), but there are some great moments on tracks such as "Don't You Worry" and the final track "You Are So Beautiful". It's certainly well worth a listen.

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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