Reviewed by Tony Cummings

It was Ben Martin's review of Stephen's excellent performance at last year's Greenbelt that first alerted me to this top rate singer/songwriter from Liverpool. Imagine a voice that sounds like a cross between Paulo Nutini and Jeff Buckley, songs that are haunting reflections on life, love and the Kingdom of God and a band of accompanists that wrap punchy yet sympathetic arrangements around Stephen's high, emotive vocals and you have one of the freshest singer/songwriters to emerge for years. The sound quality isn't the best on all these tracks but the singing, songwriting and playing is top quality. My current favourites are the piano-led "Does It Matter" and the punchy pop rock opener "Saw The Angels" but wherever you look you'll find finely crafted songs. This set is subtitled 2007-2009, can't wait to hear Stephen's latest 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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