I have to admit I was a little leery of this project when I first heard about it. "Relaxing arrangements" of popular hits and worship songs? Sounds like that should be interesting... and it is.

The coolest thing about chillout is it actually does what it intends to. It's a slick, cool compilation of jazzy and tranquil renditions of some common vertically-written songs. A Time To Worship opens with the Lenny Kravitz-penned "I Belong To You" and quickly sets the mood with an almost 80's synth pop vibe that immediately sets the peaceful worship setting for the listener. An excellently smooth cover of Out Of Eden's "Lovely Day" is nicely revived here in a slowly paced horn-peppered ballad that makes you feel as if the song was always meant to sound like this. The chillout cover of "I Can Only Imagine" is probably the hippest version you'll ever hear but ultimately doesn't stray too far from the vocal delivery the original uses. Unfortunately the almost-shouting style of the vocals disrupts the calm flow of the rest of the song.

"I Will Be Your Friend" and "I Trust In You" are relaxing highlights while "Above All" is a little bland compared to its original rendition. And while seeing dc Talk's "Jesus Freak" on the track list scared me considerably, I have to admit the chillout composition is pretty decent. Completely recomposed, the song takes more of a jazz approach, forsaking it's original grunge rock format.

The album closes with two unfortunate disappointments, first with a unique yet almost unrecognizable cover of U2's magnificent "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," complete with unnecessary and irritating digital vocal distortion. Matt Redman's original "The Heart Of Worship" is a perfect song to include, however the vocalist tends to spend too much time speaking the lyrics instead of making good use of the calm lounge sounds some of the earlier tracks perfected.

Complaints aside, chillout is a well-crafted collection of worship songs to sit and meditate on God's love with. New label Waterfront Music has picked a great project to debut with, freshening up a sometimes stale genre of redundant worship releases with a sound and quality scarcely found.