Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Graeme is the worship leader at New Life Christian Fellowship in Lincoln and also leads worship at the Grapevine event. The songs of the album are very personal, having been written over a period of time when Graeme was being treated for cancer. He has now thankfully been given the all clear and has recorded these 12 songs as a testament to God's goodness and faithfulness. In his words: "I want people to listen to this album and be inspired. We have seen that God cares for those who honour his name and know the importance of worship throughout all that life throws at us. What the enemy meant for death, God has turned to good." The songs are full of humility and a sense of our unworthiness as well as praise of our God. Stylistically, there are some echoes of Coldplay at times, Matt Redman at others. Highlights for me are "I Offer Up My Life", an expression of the only proper response to Jesus' amazing sacrifice, and "My Heart's Desire", another beautiful song of surrender to God. The use of real strings really lifts the emotion of the songs they play on, but the vocals often seem to be over-dominated by the guitars. Also included is a CD-Rom containing a QuickTime "behind-the-scenes" movie consisting of footage of the recording sessions and Graeme talking about the songs, as well as a PDF file containing the lyrics and guitar chords. It might have been nice to have these assets accessible from a menu along the lines of that on Graeme's website. All in all, a good release if you're looking for some new worship material for your church or for personal worship.

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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