'If You Know You're Loved is one of those "does exactly what it says on the tin" kinds of songs.'

George Luke reviews the best of the latest Christian music releases.

Listen and give: Use the links to order an album or albums reviewed in this column and Christian Aid will receive a percentage of the sale.

By his own admission, Matt Redman is more comfortable doing slower, more introspective and intimate worship songs than trying to write rock anthems.

This could be why he roped in Martin Smith of Delirious? and John Ellis of Tree63 to help make his latest album, Beautiful News, rockier than the Redman we’re accustomed to.

Well, it worked. I can already envision congregations bellowing Take It to the Streets out of tune in churches across the nation. For those who prefer the more intimate songs, Yes And Amen and Fearfully And Wonderfully Made fit perfectly.

And when Matt sings “Life’s too short to be lukewarm” on When All Is Said and Done, he does with that one line what it normally takes a dozen self-help books to do (or am I just really hard to motivate?).

The closing track, If You Know You’re Loved, is one of those “does exactly what it says on the tin” kinds of songs.

You might want to avoid it if you hate songs with repetitive choruses. But resist the urge to hit the stop button, or you’ll miss the brilliantly Lennonesque reprise of the title track that’s hidden away behind it.

Debate

I’m not going to get into a theological debate about whether modern worship songs are as profound as the hymns of old here. But I will admit that several of the tracks on Beautiful News were lodged in my memory after a couple of days’ worth of repeated plays. Make of that what you will.

Before Robert Randolph came along, the pedal steel guitar was largely seen as the preserve of good ole Country boys and exotic Hawaiians. Robert and his Family Band changed all that, proving that the steel could be funky if it wanted to.

It wasn’t that what they did was new; back in 1920s America, black churches which couldn’t afford organs had adopted the pedal steel as a cheaper alternative, and ‘Sacred Steel’ music has existed as a sub-genre within Gospel music ever since.

Robert and his gang of cousins and mates just updated it, giving it an ‘urban’ spin with a large helping of blues thrown in, ensuring Robert’s place in rock’s Pantheon of guitar heroes in the process.

Four years after their first studio album, Unclassified, Robert & Co are back with Colourblind (sorry, I simply refuse to spell it the American way!).

The last time Robert’s band visited the UK, they were supporting Eric Clapton. Slowhand returns the favour with a guest appearance on their cover of the Doobie Brothers’ Jesus Is Just Alright.

Jam

They do a fantastic job, but the inevitable “duelling guitars” jam just got a bit too much for me (it’s to be expected when you get two great guitarists to spar with their axes, I guess).

Once the testosterone level has dropped back to about normal, a mellower, more soulful Robert emerges. Stronger is a beautiful song, made all the more so by guest vocalist Leela James.

Compared to Clapton, the album’s other star guest guitarist – Dave Matthews – sounds competent but restrained on Love Is the Only Way. Homecoming closes the set the same way Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That opened it: upbeat, joyful, raucous and energetic.

Robert’s choice of album titles gives some clue to his genre-crossing aspirations. But they don’t fully prepare you for what you get when you put the CDs on. Buy, listen and be gobsmacked.

The first thing a dc Talk anorak would notice about the 10th anniversary re-release of Jesus Freak is that it’s out of date (the original album was released in 1995). But let’s not nitpick and instead take this opportunity to appreciate once again a landmark album in Christian music. Ah, the memories …

It was on Jesus Freak that dc Talk abandoned all pretences of being a rap group and embraced the pop-rock thing they were clearly much better at.

Balladry

Somehow they managed to alternate between the grungy rock of the title track and Like It, Love It, Need It and the mellow balladry of What If I Stumble and Between You and Me without sounding contrived.

On the few occasions when they did rap, they sounded like a softer precursor to the PODs and Limp Bizkits that were to follow.

This two-CD set features the original album on Disc One. Disc Two contains a handful of remixes which really don’t improve much on the originals, and some fun live covers: of REM’s It’s the End of the World (As We Know It), Larry Norman’s I Wish We’d All Been Ready, U2’s 40 and the Beatles’ Help!

Since they parted ways, Toby Mac (the only bona fide hip hopper/soul boy in the group) has returned to his first love with much success. Kevin Max has got his “loose cannon of Christian rock” persona honed perfectly, and Michael Tait played Jesus in a musical and almost fronted Santana (Carlos asked him to be his vocalist on a tour of Europe, but he turned down the offer so as to focus on his own band, Tait).

The chances of dc Talk doing a Take That anytime soon are remote. Better to remember them at their best like this and enjoy their new individual ventures for what they are, I suppose.

Blood Diamond

Before I sign off for this month, a quick mention for the Blood Diamond film soundtrack – mainly for the song Baai, performed by former child soldier (and star attraction at Greenbelt 2005) Emmanuel Jal.

Sadly, the African Children’s Choir’s song Nangirira – which can be heard in the film’s closing scenes – isn’t included on the album. Still, if you’re into film scores, it’s an album well worth checking out.

Buy the albums from amazon.co.uk using the links below, and Christian Aid receives part of the cost for its work around the world.

Matt Redman – Beautiful News

Robert Randolph & the Family Band – Colorblind

dc Talk – Jesus Freak (10th Anniversary Edition)

Blood Diamond OST