Reviewed by Paul Kerslake

Steve Barrie is a worship leader based at The King's Church in Thornton, Merseyside. He has been writing for many years, creating songs for worship within his local congregation. 'Raging Desire' is a six track EP collecting some of the songs Steve has written over the past two decades. Opening track "Your Prayer" is a reworking of The Lord's Prayer to a trance/electronic backing with some interesting and unusual effects on the vocals. "Heavenly Father, I Worship You" is a great worship song with a catchy chorus, again with a dance-based backing that slightly distracts from the songs. Third track in, "Melodies Of Mercy", and we move towards a more traditional band sound which really helps the song along. The title track is a worshipful ballad that has been nicely put together; the acoustic and vocals are sympathetically backed by some tasteful keys and ambient effects. The closing song, "Worthy Of Praise", is a live recording (I assume from their church) and is by far the best track on here. The vocals are clear, there is a real drummer (always a bonus for me), and the song is evidently being used in worship by the eagerly singing congregation. Steve has a talent for songwriting. Unfortunately, the songs are hidden and muddied by the production on this EP; the electronic settings and heavy use of effects on the vocals detracting from the core message. Let's hope the best of these songs are re-recorded sometime.

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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