The Very Best Of Lara Martin: The Voice Of Hope by Lara Martin

Reviewed by Tom Lennie

Ms Martin is well known as having been worship leader at Abundant Life Church in Bradford for around a decade, until she moved away in 2008 to work with disadvantaged street children in Romania. Her songs - most of them sung by herself - have featured on a number of prominent recordings released by ALC, and her worship performances were also often aired on God TV. Some of her material is also to be found on worship compilations, such as Virgin's 'The Best Worship Songs Ever!' and a number of CCM artists have performed Martin covers on their own ventures. Most of her output is featured on this double-disc - picked, as they are, from those previous ALC recordings, with full (excellent, though on this project unaccredited) choral backing and orchestral arrangements. Some, certainly, fare better than others; a favourite of mine being Lara's experimentation with a dose of funky soul on "He's Real". More popular songs like "Divine Exchange" and "I Will Bless The Lord At All Times" also feature of course, but I've got to say, many of these songs continue to pass me by largely untouched. They lack the immediacy and memorability that make them truly stand out material. As for existing fans, you'll probably own most of these tracks already.