Reviewed by Ian Hayter

Phil James is a new voice on the recorded music scene. He is a pastor and musician with the Covenant Community Church, Bridgend, and the songs on this album claim to be a "collection of the emotions and sentiments of the time" (it's not clear what time). It's quite a mixture, really, with some songs which would seem to be ideal for corporate worship ("Canopy", "Over And Over Again", "Call On Your Name"), and some which are more intensely personal ("Who Am I To Justify", "Already There"). There's quite a mixture as regards quality, too. Both lyrically and musically there are some very good points and some pretty awful moments. In one or two of the songs it's obvious that it's been quite a strain for Phil to find a rhyme or a metre and there is some fairly tortuous syntax in places ("Emotional" and the title track fall into that category). And the music, while there is some inspired guitar playing on a couple of tracks, is rather unimaginative on the whole. On several songs the drummer (wisely unnamed in the credits!) is far too prominent and plodding. However, this is a good debut which promises well for the future and I really enjoyed several of the tracks ("Over And Over Again" and "Already There" stand out). If Phil James could loosen up and not take it all quite so intensely seriously, things might be a bit different.

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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