Reviewed by Doug Holland

The Songster Brigade was formed in 1918, the final one of the four Govan music sections to be so. It currently comprises volunteers from a wide variety of walks of life and performs regularly at Sunday services, at concerts, in hospitals and many other arenas and tours abroad. This, its second CD, comprises 18 tracks (67 minutes) of assorted hymnody with the track list mixing compositions old and new (including in the latter category Lenny Leblanc's "Above All", which is a joy). Several members of the Brigade take centre stage to bring us solos (vocal and instrumental), and these all contribute to the resulting wide range of tempos and sounds found across the collection. The expected solid choir sound is never far away, however, and supported by an effective piano, bass and percussion accompaniment the result is an enjoyable and uplifting listening experience. Pleasingly, virtually all words sung are understandable without recourse to the lyric book, which is by no means always the case with choir recordings. For fans of Salvation Army vocal groups this is likely to be a big hit, with no obvious weaknesses in design or delivery.

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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