My Devotion by Waking The Sound

Reviewed by David Faulkner

Classifying this CD according to musical type was difficult. Kris DeLorenzi of Broken Walls and Ohwihsha plays genre hopscotch on this remarkable recording. Yes, you can hear the sound of Native American music gone rock-cum-chillout. You can also hear Indian subcontinent influences on closing track "Intercession". In between, you can hear touches of those mainstream Western artists who have breathed world music into their systems - Peter Gabriel and others. It is ambient in the sense of its groove but not in the Eno sense of slowly changing chords. It is meditational rather than conventional worship in that the lyrics are not always too specific about what God has done for us in Christ. I have tried using it as background music, and it doesn't function that way: it demands engagement. Some of the highly rhythmic melodies have forced their way into my attention, like some spiritual magnetism, in particular the title cut and "Comfort Me". I might have valued less vague content in places, but in my sheltered upbringing, I've never heard anything quite like this. It is an utterly extraordinary CD. I'm off for a quiet lie-down now, because I think only silence can follow repeated exposure to this music.