Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

After the mainstream success of her debut album in her homeland of New Zealand, Brooke Fraser these days resides in Sydney where she attends Hillsong. For her second album, she has enlisted the help of American studios, producers and musicians and it sees her growing both musically and lyrically. This album has more of a band feel than her debut and it makes a difference on songs where she wants to up the dynamic and it's best highlighted on the excellent "Deciphering Me". I love the opening cut "Shadowfeet" which was the first thing I played on Rimmerama though the more I listen to the album, the more I am discovering. "Albertine" is a moving song written following a trip to Rwanda where she met a girl named, yes you guessed it, Albertine. Again she seems to delight in bringing aspects of her faith into her songwriting and so "C S Lewis Song" and "Hosea's Wife" nail her colours firmly to the mast. The instrumental "Epilogue" has a more experimental sound and sounds like something Mutemath would do! Ultimately, I am captivated by her writing, her voice and the whole vibe of this album. Since she's featured duetting with Tim Hughes on his new album, there's every hope that Brooke may find herself with an audience here in the UK. On the strength of this excellent album, she deserves to.

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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