'Has Christmas come early in America? Or is the Christian music industry over there really in trouble and needing a quick injection of cash?'

George Luke reviews the best new releases from the Christian music scene released in June

Use the links to buy the albums from amazon.co.uk and Christian Aid will receive part of the sale price

Has Christmas come early in America? Or is the Christian music industry over there really in trouble and needing a quick injection of cash?

I only ask because those are the only reasons I can think of to explain the rather un-seasonal release of ‘best of’ CD/DVD packages from two of America’s biggest Christian rock bands.

From Atlanta rockers Third Day, we have Chronology, Vol. 1 – a dozen of their hits covering the years 1996 to 2000, plus five bonus tracks.

Rather than just throw tracks together, the guys have actually made the effort to re-record or re-mix some of their songs, so we get new recordings (or at least new mixes) of oldies such as “Consuming Fire”, “My Hope Is In You”, “Thief” and “Nothing At All”. The DVD contains music videos (including two of “Cry Out to Jesus”), clips of their performances at past Dove Award ceremonies, and a handful of ‘bootleg videos’.

Debut

Fellow Atlantans Casting Crowns haven’t been around long enough to be bringing out anthologies; instead, they’ve taken their self-titled debut album, added a DVD to it, re-packaged it and dubbed it the ‘Gift Edition’ (maybe Christmas has come early).

On the DVD we have a documentary about the band’s history, plus some live concert footage – all of which should keep hardcore fans occupied until their new album comes out in August.

Well, if we’re not going to get anything new from the Americans this month, we can always look to our own, I suppose.

Canterbury girl (and Oxford graduate) Vicky Beeching made her first steps into writing worship songs via Soul Survivor and the Oxford Vineyard church. Painting the Invisible is Vicky’s latest album – her second since she moved to Nashville two years ago.

Intimacy and simplicity run right through Vicky’s songs – from those written for big gatherings, such as “Join the Song” or “At All Times”, to the more personal reflections such as “Twenty-six Summers”.

There’s a warmth in Vicky’s voice that stays with you long after you’ve put the CD back in its case.

To crown it all, she’s included guitar chords along with the song lyrics on the CD inlay… even giving instructions as to where to stick the capo on your guitar for each song! I do like it when people are thorough…

Mainstay

The London-based sibling quartet Four Kornerz have been a mainstay of the Gospel music scene for the past three years, during which time they’ve played both Greenbelt and O2’s Wireless festivals, and shared the stage with Joss Stone and Dizzee Rascal.

It’s been an agonisingly long wait, but their debut album Soulectric is finally here… and it more than rewards their fans’ patience.

“Soul Flower”, “Clap Clap” and “Better Days” are funk workouts George Clinton and James Brown would have fought over.

The anti-racism anthem “Conqueror” starts off as a soulful lament before morphing into rootsy reggae. “Let It Go” tackles the thorny subject of child abuse.

The guys then delve deep into their Nigerian roots for “It’s You”, with the help of renowned Nigerian saxophonist Mike Aremu.

Trombonist Dennis Rollins (winner of one of Radio 3’s Jazz awards last year) guests on “Turn It Up” – another track that’s just too funky for its own good. Other guests include the rappers Jahaziel and Verbs.

Soulectric isn’t just one of the better albums I’ve heard this year; it’s easily one of the best debut albums I’ve come across in a long time. I was slightly worried by that “this is a stick-up” song, though…

Click on the links below to buy an album from amazon.co.uk and Christian Aid will receive part of the sale proceeds

• Third Day – Chronology, Vol. 1
• Casting Crowns – Gift Edition
• Vicky Beeching – Painting the Invisible
• Four Kornerz – Soulectric

• Read other Tunes columns