Reviewed by Steve Hayes

From the first syncopated track ("Out Of The Blue"), with its drifting bass - to the rhythmic displacements in "The Name Game" and "Let Me (Show You What The Living God Can Do)", you realise that Texas-based Sivion is going to be doing something profound and authentic with his album - not sipping on moonshine "but sipping on new wine." Throughout the album, Sivion points to the living God as being the truth and provides insight and wise lyricism to both reveal some of the darkness in the world and give glory to God as the only answer - "Jehovah is fact, not fiction/If you don't know, that's what's messin' up your diction" ("In The Know"). We move from struggles that we have ("Down But Never Out" with the rest of the outstanding Deepspace 5 crew guesting), to a call to open up the floodgates of love - "It amazes me how you can do something you love/But love never comes into play" ("Flood Gates"). By the time we reach "Fly So High" with its mildly discordant minor-key melodies and sung-rap interlude, we are moving into more chilled out, jazz-infused music. "Side Rhodes" with its radio-styled vocals, the standout "Father Time" and the more down-tempo "Shannon" all bring jazzy vibes, harmonies and sung hooks. As we move towards the end of the album, we find that Christ is still central, over the illusionary glitz of life.

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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