Reviewed by Paddy Hudspith

For anyone who has failed to pick up many new British worship albums in the past few years, this 48-track collection provides plenty of quick catch-up material. Even though 'Seriously Hot Worship' will date very quickly with a title like that, and falls short like many albums of this type by failing to provide any sleevenotes beyond lyrics and copyright details (who's singing? where does this track come from?), its three-CD package has much to recommend it. The production values are impressive; I recognised the sounds of plenty of the "original" artists whose songs are featured - Paul Oakley, Stuart Townend, Gareth Robinson, Phatfish, Kate Simmonds, each of these get at least a couple of tracks each too. It's clear too that worship recordings continue to become increasingly more sophisticated, as here more structurally-complicated and genre-specific offerings (Paul Oakley's Brit-rock, Kate Simmonds' mellow R&B gospel) are easily accommodated. These are all 21st-century songs, with one glaring exception - the Paul Oakley tune 'We Have Prayed (Let It Rain)' published in 1994. How did that one slip through? Oh well, even if it's lukewarm rather than 'Seriously Hot', I still like it!

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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