Reviewed by Ian Hayter

Evan is the pastor at the Harbour Christian City Church in Auckland, New Zealand, but his musical roots go back a long way. He was once a leading light in the Kiwi music scene, singing Motown-style soul, R&B and rock in Auckland clubs and with a band called The Action (not to be confused with the '60s British mod band of the same name). His conversion was dramatic, as he tells in a lengthy but compelling interview on the DVD which comes as part of this set (the DVD also contains six excellent music videos - five of songs from the CD and one acoustic version of "I Will Cry Out"). Silva has a fine soulful voice and the 16 tracks on the album are a great showcase for that. It's clear from some of the things he says in the interview that the tracks here are culled from several of Evan's previous albums, but the sleeve doesn't tell us which ones. Kicking off with "Love Sweet Love" it soon becomes apparent that this is an album of some quality with self-written songs expressing a deep faith. "Wonderful You Are", "You Are My Rock" and "For You" are positively God-centred, with "Soul Searching", "Mercy Street" and "Ain't No Two Ways About It" hinting at the spiritual journey that Silva has undertaken since his conversion (a journey also marked by a variety of hairstyles and waist sizes, if the pictures on his previous albums are anything to go by!). Currently Silva plays with a nine-piece band, who are featured in some of the footage on the DVD, but the musicians who play on the CD are very good indeed and make this a great album to listen to. All in all, great blue-eyed soul gospel by a man with a powerful testimony.

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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