Reviewed by James Lewis

You might be forgiven for expecting, with a name like that, that BUOS are yet another full gospel choir. Nope! The band is a multi-racial four-piece producing what can best be described as organic soul/dance music. Mellow hip hop beats are combined with acoustic and electric guitar, piano, strings and even blues harp to do for soul what Arrested Development did for rap. Recent DC Talk or Kevin Smith's wonderful "Lonely Moon" from the Mark Heard tribute (surely another Spirit Of Rock And Soul nominee?) are a good starting point and lyrically can be described as positive/inspirational in style. "Heaven" is in the same socio-spiritual vein as the Staple Singers' classics "Come Go With Me" and "I'll Take You There" and the kick off single, "I Believe", states that "Love will find a way". This said, it's difficult to say whether Blessid Union have a regenerate faith or are just believers in an unknown god. "Nora", a touching song about 50 Elliot's grandmother, professes a belief that "I'll see you on the other side", but "Forever For Tonight" seems more interested in tonight than the forever part, however poetic the imagery may be. "Lucky To Be Here", a song which thanks God for being blessed, starts off admitting to having "two children, but I haven't got a wife" without any sense of remorse that I can find. EMI were apparently extremely keen to sign them up and it's easy to see why, but as for integrity they seem to be caught on the same sacred/secular fence as Prince, MC Hammer, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye before them. Nine out of 10 for the music.

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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