Reviewed by Pippa Rimmer

Great! I thought, as this plopped through any door. New songs! Songs that the Church will be singing in the not-too-distant future - a sneak preview perchance? WRONG! This is a rehash through the Who's Who in Christian songwriting to be used as a resource for church worship. The newest song I could find was from 1 998 (that makes it two years old in my reckoning}; the oldest "new" song, "There Is A Name I Love To Hear", is from 1946! Surely there is some Trade Description faux pas here? "New" songs? Not wanting to be deterred, I plodded on, wailing for something new to jump out at me. The opening track, Matt Redman's ubiquitous "Let Everything That Has Breath" started promisingly with a nice jangly guitar and could that be Simon Goodall on lead vocals? (Strangely enough, he is not mentioned in the credits. Hmmm...) I struggle to see why this is classed as "new" material when a great number of churches have been using lots of these songs for years. Viola Grafstrom's "We Bow Down" is a soothing, lilting love ballad to God, but lacks any imagination and Brenton Brown's top hit "Over All The Earth (Lord Reign In Me)" is devoid of the passion that this song commands in any worship setting. Having been totally spoilt by hearing Sonicflood's gutsy, crunchy version of "Open The Eyes Of My Heart" I am taken aback by this almost unrecognisable rendition, which I've always thought deserved much more energy than is found here. Even Sir Cliffs "Millennium Prayer" doesn't escape that easily and is given tepid treatment. All in all, this is fairly pedestrian fodder which suffers from being unimaginative, turgid and generally uninspiring. My advice? Find a meaty version elsewhere for your inspiration. Not so much new songs as old hat. Shame.

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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