There are a couple of things which distinguish Love Without Measure from the countless other modern worship albums that will be released this year. For one, the members of Parachute Band are Kiwis. Secondly, their music, particularly on the more upbeat songs, is slightly more edgy and guitar-driven than your average worship band.

The downside is that eight of the twelve songs here are ballads, and these tend to blend together in the way that modern worship ballads often do. Listening to the slower songs, I missed the old Parachute Band, whose R&B influences added a point of difference to the down-tempo tracks. However when they’re at their best, such as with the song “My Constant,” energetic and spidery guitar lines take prominence in a way that brings to mind Franz Ferdinand or early Bloc Party. That has always been this band’s strength; “Come To The River,” from their last album, Technicolour, was as good a modern praise song as you’re likely to hear. And while nothing on this album quite reaches those heights, when they stick to material with a fast tempo, Parachute Band usually succeed.

Three stars out of five