Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

The worship team at Calvary Chapel, Merritt Island, Florida has been making good quality worship albums for yonx, ever since Malcolm Wild, of Malcolm & Alwyn fame, took up residence as pastor back at the end of the 1980s. And part of that team almost since the beginning has been Mary Barrett, accomplished singer, songwriter and guitarist, whose two earlier albums, ‘A Breath Away’ and ‘In The Language’, from 1995 and 2000 respectively, are both gems. The difference between those two albums and this one is that there’s no original material on ‘Hymns’, instead, 11 classics rearranged by Mary along with Joel Wild, Jimmy Anderson and Pastor Malcolm, with the rest of the CCMI team joining in on instruments and backing vocals. The main feel is easy listening country with acoustic guitars to the fore and occasional Hammond B3, bass and drums, and whilst the material is familiar, the old songs come up fresh with plenty of sing-along potential. You’ll need to go to the Footstep Records website to get this, but I think you’ll find it worth the effort.

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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