Reviewed by Alastair McCollum

The Artist Formerly Known As Sam Moore made a pretty good album 'Splendid Isolation' in 2005. Now Zoe Records have released album number two and the Birmingham-based singer/songwriter plays with the gospel genre, mixing it with soul, rock, R&B and blues to create a patchwork of music that has a common theme of longing for all to know the life of Christ. After what could be described as a "lounge bar gospel" opener, which is the title track, the next two tracks have a rocky swing to them with "Complete Me: The Anthem" amazingly enough having a distinctly glam-rock feel to it. "Grace, Goodness And Mercy" is a soulful piano accompanied gospel ballad while "How Excellent" is as trad gospel as it comes, with a Hammond B-3 background and choir. The bass-heavy "What Ya Gonna Do?" has an uplifting R&B vibe, and the album finishes with the acoustic guitar intro and joy of "Thank You" which has a sense of testimony and gratitude for God's blessings throughout. Such wild eclecticism is to be commended though one suspects that the notoriously conservative black church audience will struggle to relate to many of the tracks here.

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