Doug Horley is back with a brand new collection of fun and funky praise and worship songs for kids. I’m not sure where the album has been hiding, but its October release features a smashing Christmas song called “All the Angels Sing.” As usual, there’s lots of musical styles on show, but there does seem a leaning towards RnB in the main. Both “Are You Ready?” and the title track fall into this category, with the latter sounding like a Mary Mary song. I was pleased to see that Doug hasn’t lost his sense of humour, and both “Dollop” and “Who Da Da Da Diddly Day” are typical of this. The thing I like about his kids songs is that they’re not complicated to understand. “You Write My Name Upon Your Hand” is one such song, were it’s so easy for kids to hear that God loves each one of them. There’s an African feel to “Never Gonna Give Up”, while I thought the banjo playing on “Tidal Wave” worked really well. I often think that Doug must have been a punk rock fan, he never fails to include fast and furious paced guitar led songs like “God is There in Ev’ryday Stuff.” It’s a classic and, along with most of the album, makes this child of God smile. 8/10.

The latest release from British children's ministry man Doug Horley - or Duggie Dug Dug to his friends - is another quality piece of work. With a refreshing refusal to dumb things down, Horley has chosen to offer up a collection of largely upbeat praise songs that are presented with musical integrity whilst covering a variety of useful spiritual themes - amongst them perseverance ("Never Gonna Give Up") and the importance of having a prayer life ("Prayer Is Talking With God"). Unsurprisingly thanks to a stellar backing band that includes the likes of Neil Costello, Terl Bryant and Mark Edwards alongside a great vocal delivery from the man himself, the music on offer is top notch and the choice to cover a number of styles including pseudo-funk ("Are You Ready?"), guitar-driven rock ("God Is There In The Ev'ryday Stuff") and the dance-tinged title track - not to mention a powerhouse vocal from Phebe Edwards on "You Might See Miracles" - provides a great deal of variety to proceedings. I would argue that the overarching stylistic feel of this release will most likely appeal to children nearer the pre-teen end of the spectrum as opposed to much younger children and, with that in mind, the inclusion of more infant-sounding tracks like "Who Da Da Da Diddly Day" and "Harry And Larry's Circus Adventure!" jars a little. Nonetheless, this is yet another in a long line of accomplished releases from Mr Dug Dug. 7/10