Reviewed by Oscar Hyde

Blake is a rising UK talent, a true conceptual auteur. Here, he's set his compositional skills and five or six instruments to work to create a rock opera version of the Nativity story. It's a corker of an adaptation. Blake incorporates traditionally Middle Eastern scales into his neo-psychedelic rock; he's one of the few modern Christian musicians I've heard who can make minor keys properly jaunty. He hits all the major story points - a haunting rendition of Micah 5.2 to open, a mysterious annunciation, a joyful proclamation at Christ's birth - but what I find far more distinctive is the human element he emphasises. There's an anachronistic-but-adorable courtship between Mary and Joseph, a very real sense of Mary's fear at having to tell Joseph of the pregnancy, and so forth. At first, I considered the album too low-key; "Mary's Magnificat", for example, takes the form of a very simplistic '60s pop revival tune, not the massive anthem into which Hillsong adapted it. But, in truth, the Nativity WAS a low-key story from the perspectives of much of the wider world, and it's lovely to hear it as it must have at first been perceived. A final note: all proceeds from this album go to charities working in Israel and Palestine - this isn't just an album about the birth of the Prince of Peace, but a project that still cares about the meaning of that title today.

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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