The Kingdom Choir won hearts around the world with their Royal Wedding performance, many of these hearts have been eagerly awaiting their album. Stand By Me was worth the wait.
My heart was not won at the wedding, I watched the wedding because the choir are there, my heart was won with two 2016 606 club appearances.
A great choir consists of many wonderful solo voices joined together to sound like one, at times the sound can be so good that it exceeds the sum of the individual parts. A great album is made up of individually great songs combining to give a magnificent listening experience. This is a great choir with a great album.
They have been bold, they have taken fourteen well known songs and created versions that stand well when compared with the originals. My favourite songs are John Legends ‘All of Me’, Stormzy’s ‘Blinded by Your Grace Pt2’, Labi Sifre’s ‘Something Inside So Strong’ and Beyonce’s ‘Halo’. I enjoyed the original versions of these songs but The Kingdom Choir have amazingly reached the same level with their choral arrangements. The fifteenth song which is an original ‘Chases’ is of a very high standard too.
Gospel music fans may be disappointed that the only traditional gospel song on the album is ‘Amazing Grace’ but The Kingdom Choir are trying to bring Gospel singing to the masses and I believe that this will be huge success.
The choir is bigger than the one I saw at the 606, anyone who knows the club will tell you that to get 4 musicians and 12 singers on stage is a challenge. 32 choir members are listed in the album notes. I have seen many Gospel Choirs but the choir I heard at the 606 was the best I had ever heard. Some of the choir have established musical careers including Wayne Hernandez, Wayne Ellington and Tracey-Jane Campbell, others have fledgling solo careers. I own Sharlene-Monique’s EP ‘Destiny’ and Mariam’s EP ‘Heart to Heart ‘. Listen to ‘You’ from Destiny and ‘Running from Heart to Heart. ‘Running’ is one of my favourite songs of the decade, it is that good.
I would recommend that you listen to the album and go see the choir perform if you get the chance.
Johns London Music Reviews 