Reviewed by Martin I Smith

Canada's Matt Maher, a guy whose songs have been recorded by the likes of Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman, has steadily crept into the limelight as an internationally recognised worship leader. A previous Cross Rhythms reviewer has already struck up a Casting Crowns comparison, and indeed Maher sounds uncannily like Mark Hall. 'The Love In Between', Maher's third album, doesn't do anything to make the link less tempting. When he sings "I don't wanna sing you praises, just to hear them on the radio/I don't wanna stand for justice, if I'm not among the poor" on "Heaven Help Me", the similar exploration of hypocrisy found on Crowns' hit "If We Are The Body" inescapably comes to mind. Not that Maher is consciously copying, it's just that there's only so many places you can go with this kind of radio friendly, soft-rock. In fact, the silver-haired songsmith is pretty good at the genre - "My Only Love" is a top ballad and "Everything And Nothing" boasts an effective U2-esque climax - but there's nothing here that'll hush modern worship's critics. If you're not much enamoured by their complaints anyway, you'll do no wrong by picking this up - Maher is a skilled contributor to the genre (or style, or movement - whatever it is!).

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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