Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

I have to confess I'm a sucker for old style gospel and soul from the '50s and '60s. There's something about the primitive recording techniques, the no frills instrumentation and the passionate vocals overriding everything that gets me every time. The work of Rev Tina brings back all of those feelings and her latest release does it again! And in the spirit of a true independent Redden writes all the songs and then plays all the instruments herself before adding that powerful voice over the top. She's a one woman gospel frenzy and as far away from the slick, manicured, watered down, over produced sanitised slosh that passes for a great deal of gospel music these days. Rev Tina Redden comes from the gospel moaning tradition where her soulfulness simply leaks out all over this CD! This is best illustrated on songs like the marvellous "God's Question" and the brilliant "Uh Oh" where she stretches from low moans to moments where she tips her head back and let's loose! Whilst the lo-fi qualities of the album are offset by her superb vocal performances, there are moments when I wonder what she would sound like with a bigger budget and a pile of anointed musicians as the drum machine on a song like "Ooh Wee" tires after a while. But these quibbles don't steal too much away from the overall enjoyment of the album.

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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