Boyce & Stanley send iPod containing new album to the Pope

CONTEMPORARY Catholic songwriters Boyce & Stanley have sent Pope Benedict an iPod with their latest album on it and they're asking people for their suggestions for the music the Pope should listen to. The Birmingham-based duo have taken the unprecedented step of sending their latest album 'Age To Age' on iPod for the Papal seal of approval and secretly hope that Pope Benedict might even enjoy listening to it. The album features new arrangements of many of the best-loved, classic Catholic hymns. The album will be released in the UK on 15th September with press launches taking place in both Birmingham and London on Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th September.

Said the duo's Mike Stanley, "Following the Pope's encyclical letter 'moto proprio' and his obvious interest in both traditional and contemporary styles of worship, we wanted Pope Benedict to hear how some of the more traditional songs can be interpreted in a contemporary way without doing an injustice to the truth they contain." Joanne Boyce of the group went on to add, "There is much talk in church circles at the moment about the inappropriateness of contemporary instruments like drums and guitars in favour of the more traditional sounds of organ and choir. However, our experience over the last 11 years suggests it need not be an either/or situation but rather both/and - what really matters is the standard of musicianship and the ageless truth it seeks to express."