Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

There seems to be a noteworthy integrity in the Christian hip-hop scene at the moment, with artists speaking the Gospel prophetically into this generation, communicating truth in a direct way that is often woefully absent in some other musical genres. New Direction Crew are firmly in this category. To set the scene, their stated sole desire is "to give God the highest praise" and when told of their MOBO award nomination their response was "It is a privilege to be nominated, but most importantly we pray Christ will be glorified." The sound is fresh, combining old-skool musical elements/samples, raps boldly displaying British accents and rich vocal hooks from Liz. The title track kicks off with joyful exuberance describing what it means to be "In The Saviour's Shadow," followed up by the very commercial, danceable "Thy Will Be Done," declaring "if it's not God's will, I don't think I will." Stylistic variation is provided by "You Are God" which could almost be a congregational worship song, and the confessional piano-based "Sorry." NDC's message can be summarised by this excerpt from "He Needs You" - "Mary Magdalene sat by him/And her life was once packed with sin/But God takes the whole packaging and remoulds you/He makes you brand new/Father God thank you". There are perhaps a couple too many slower tracks but, overall this is a fantastic debut.

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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