Andy Park - In The Secret

Reviewed by Nigel Harris

This is the second release in the Vineyard Voices series, this time featuring some of the most familiar worship songs penned over the last 20 years or so by Canada's popular songsmith. Having been around as a worship leader that long, Andy Park is almost synonymous with Vineyard worship. This album includes some timeless classics along with a few new ones. I was relieved and delighted to find that this is not a thoughtless rehash of Andy's best tunes but neither is it even a remotely live worship experience. Instead, the songwriter/musician has been left to present his own songs more or less by himself. Only a couple of backing vocalists were used, and they add just enough when needed, but for most of the time you get Andy Park singing his own songs, by himself, from the heart. Naturally he has a great band and production team, but I was just impressed by the simplicity and power of that personal touch. It's difficult to pick out particular tracks, but I loved his controlled, soulful performance of "Spirit Of The Sovereign Lord" - sung with considerably more feeling than the typical thrashing it gets at the hands of many congregations! As a bonus for worship leaders, this is an enhanced CD with guitar chords and overhead masters, plus excerpts from Andy Park's book To Know You More.