Reviewed by Stella Redburn

Karen is, of course, one of the leading exponents of Messianic worship music and her albums are recorded in the Holy Land and produced by Gabriel Alonso. All the songs are in English and Hebrew and, as usual, there is a strong Israeli feel running throughout the whole album. These are songs of victory, hope and comfort and they emerge from the tensions that are the Middle East at the moment. Karen feels strongly that we are called to fight the powers of darkness using praise and worship as weapons. The first song "Al Tiru (Fear Not)" is a battle song, confronting the powers of darkness with the word of God from 2 Chronicles 20. Many of the songs are upbeat like "Adoneinu Moshienu", with its dance rhythm, strong vocal harmony and gorgeous oboe obligato weaving around the voice. Unfortunately, no other musicians are credited. I particularly liked the contribution of a young Christian Arab girl vocalising on "He Restoreth My Soul". She added a more Eastern, exotic sound, along with the flute and hand cymbals. Karen says this is one of her favourites on the album, coming, as it did, out of the death of her father. Some of the numbers are slower, like the hypnotic "Yeshua Malkeinu" (Who am I, Lord, that you are mindful of me?). I was particularly touched by her song "We've Come Together", which was written as a respsonse to 9/11 and releases the power of God's love in unity through its use of English, Hebraic and Arabic lyrics.

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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