Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

When he first emerged on the scene a decade ago, it would have been easy to dismiss John Reuben as a pop rapper but the 31 year old has continued to develop artistically with each new release. Now that he has taken the reins both musically and lyrically this frees him up to create interesting and challenging music. He's reluctant these days to simply go for the rap message clichés and prefers for his faith to seep through songs that observe culture rather than creating anthems for Christian youth to sing. This approach suits him! Working at the intersection of creativity, message and career, Reuben has been working out how to balance all the different pulls on his time and energy and those concerns have come through on this set of songs that ask more questions than they answer. And that's just fine with me. From the opening groove of "Jamboree" to the intriguingly titled "Paranoid Schizophrenic Apocalyptic Whisper Kitten" and the catchy "No Be Nah", this is the sound of John Reuben spreading out. Great grooves, punchy lyrics and imaginative arrangements make sure that Reuben continues his upward artistic trajectory.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.