Reviewed by Anthony Longville

Well I'll be the first to admit I am not familiar with the music of Heffy, Billy & the Gilli Bandas, or Armageddon. 'New Land' is the solo release by Josiah Heflin, a player in both those bands. Heflin is an Indian artist based in Italy. "My music recipe has pop and rock ingredients spiced up with Indian spices and I like mixing other genres as well," says Heflin. Sounds interesting, but in many ways this album is not quite what I would expect. Often it leans more towards pop and the Eastern influence is not obvious. For me some of the finest moments are when all these elements come together as on "He Is My God - 2" and "New Land II". That sitar always strikes the Indian mood and there are some great Indian percussion sounds. Given the richness of those percussion sounds it is frustrating that the majority of the album leans so heavily on the drum machine. Stylistically there is straight worship, plenty of rap and all together it's an interesting dish that Josiah serves up. With his background I have to say that yodelling is the one musical style which I would not expect to hear here. "One" (not a U2 cover) sounds like Frank Ifield meets the Bill Gaither Trio - not a pleasant result. My daughter commented the song was particularly cheesy (that must be the Italian influence in the music!).

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.

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