Reviewed by Paul Poulton

This is art. This is the body working. Producer David Lyndon Huff (one time drummer with White Heart) travelled with his team to digitally record a choir from a very poor, small Zulu village, the results were then taken back to America and arranged, programmed and mixed in a Nashville studio. The irresistible rhythm of this album drew me in from the first of the 10 tracks. I was in Africa, the heat, humidity, the dry ground pounding as the bare soles of black feet hit it, yet using samples, keyboards and computers to achieve it. The bass sits so well, sparse yet grooving so nicely that it's immediately engaging. The percussion is complete, filling each bar with shakers, deep kick, blocks, scrapers and of course the crack of a snare, and it's not all 4/4, the 6/8 songs groove so interestingly that at first I wasn't quite sure what the time signature was. Resting on this foundation are chord progressions that descend with feather-like quality each new chord not being the one I thought it would be but once heard realising that it's exactly the right chord, eliciting a little "Yeah" from the listener. The singers, despite being from a country devastated by war and tribal unrest, have a beautiful faith in Jesus. That I couldn't understand a word didn't seem to matter at all. They often let the rhythms do the work, coming in with a chant melody line or exclamation of praise at just the right time. The inlay card offers translation. Song six, called "Zonke Izono (All Our Sins)" is phonetically "Johnny Nana" and someone really ought to try and get it on the Radio One playlist. I feel honoured to have listened to these brothers and sisters.

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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