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Music Review: Singing Along ::
LOREN BECROFT looks at the latest music for church and kids …
Source: Perspective Vo11 No1-4 © Perspective 2004
Article in PDF format: 
The team at EMU continue to fulfill their mission of providing churches with songs of the Word – being Biblical, Christ focused and contemporary—with every new release. Their two latest releases— We Are His People and A Very Very Very Big God —are no exception.
We Are His People
We Are His People was released in June 2004 and is EMU’s latest album of congregational songs. It includes songs written by your favourite EMU composers—Nicky Chiswell, Philip Percival, Mark Peterson, Bryson Smith and Rob Smith. However, as well as this it includes songs written by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty (In Christ Alone).
As with their previous release, You Alone, the songs remind us of the truths of the Bible, help us to praise our mighty God and encourage each other to glorify and serve Him. I do struggle to pick a favourite song on the CD but I particularly like “My Heat Is Filled With Thankfulness” (by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty) for its singability and poetic language.
With this latest congregational album, the team at EMU have once again made their music accessible to a variety of congregations. The CD contains songs that can be used in a variety of congregations—from traditional to more contemporary, from large to small.
As with all EMU CDs, We Are His People also includes the sheet music and masters for OHTs. However, a new feature is the inclusion of MP3 backing tracks to be used in church meetings. This makes the songs on the CD more accessible to churches without a music team.
A Very Very Very Big God
The second, released this month, is a CD of songs written especially for preschool aged children. A Very Very Very Big God contains a collection of 23 fun and simple songs that speak of the God who made me, loves me and saves me.
Although Colin Buchanan doesn’t feature on this CD, if you’re familiar with his style then you’ll love A Very Very Very Big God. Karen Pang (also from Playschool) and others present a vibrant, lively and interactive recording of many of the songs. This is assured to get even the most reserved of us singing along!
A Very Very Very Big God contains many new songs as well as old favourites—like Jesus Loves Me. Many of the new songs have been written by those who have pre-school aged children. This means that we can have confidence that the songs do actually work with children—though, no children were harmed in the production or testing of the CD!
The songs are easy to pick up and sing along to because of their memorable words and easy tunes. All you need to do is listen to the CD once and you’ll be humming along. This does have a dangerous side, though, as you may find yourself getting some strange looks as you hum along to them on the bus on the way to work!
As with previous releases, this CD contains the sheet music for all the songs. The CD also contains helpful descriptions of actions and variations of the words to some of the songs. These are helpful when teaching the songs to children and keeping the pizzazz in the songs.
All EMU CDs are available to order from their website (www.emu.mu ).
Loren Becroft is Perspective’s resident reviewer of all things musical and attends the Ann Street Presbyterian Church.
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