Reviewed by Tony Cummings

The crowd roars, the drums thud in an almost bodhran style rhythm, a singer starts singing about the transforming power of the cross and a male chorus does one of those wordless "uh-uh-oh" choruses. Why, it's the new Rend Collective Experiment album! No it's not. It's the latest Matt Redman album showing that the surge of popularity for the Rends and Matt's huge hit with the folk-tinged "10,000 Reasons" means that one of the world Church's great songsmiths has tweaked his sound. There are still rock guitars and a little bit of the old stadium rock sound. But there are folk flavours too, not just on the opener "Sing And Shout" but also on the banjo-driven "This Beating Heart". There's also a delightful mid tempo "Your Grace Finds Me" - the album's first single - (with another catchy "uh-uh-oh" chorus), a tender piano-led reflective ballad "Mercy" and the serene closer "Benediction". My favourite track at the moment is a reflection of the living water of mercy ("Mercy") but there are several others that are already registering on my heart. Recorded live at the LIFT Worship Leader Collective before 1,500 worship leaders and with a sparkling sound quality, this, Matt's first all new album for a while, shows that he is still the world Church's most consistent creator of heartwarming worship songs.

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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