Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Three years after 'Give Yourself Away' Robbie Seay returns with 'Miracles' a "reflection of Robbie's work and relationships within Ecclesia Church in Houston. . . a collection of songs inspired by the real life stories of those around him. It is a call and response to life, to what God is doing in their midst, as it happens." The whole range of emotion is covered on this powerful album, from victorious praise to sorrow-filled weeping and as such has an authenticity to it not always present on worship CDs - no plastic Christianity here! Stylistically you won't find anything new, and it very much inhabits the Simple Minds/Delirious? space, but production is highly polished, the arrangements are well crafted and performance is flawless. Robbie has a delightfully husky, passionate voice that conveys well the personal emotion in his songs. The opening anthem "Love Invades" declares how God's love permeates all creation, and the first half of the CD predominantly consists of upbeat anthems, slowing down halfway through to a more mid-tempo reflective style. I consider most of the songs to be highlights, but the most powerful has to be "Lament," a response to a friend's son being shot and killed, begging God from the depths of sorrow and helplessness to come in grace, the beautiful female supporting vocals adding a longing, plaintive quality. "Long Way Home" is worthy of note due to the unusual subject matter of the hard work involved in working to restore a marriage in trouble, and this is a good example of how real and gritty some of this record is. Also worth a mention is the challenge in "Kingdom And A King" to "never wait on governments to move as the broken and the poor cry out for You. . . Oh God, may we be focused on the least, a people balancing the fasting and the feast." My only criticism would be that the audio has been compressed/limited to extreme in the prevailing quest for ultimate loudness, and this makes repeat listening a little fatiguing on the ears. A powerful collection of uplifting and poignant songs.

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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