The Fordhams —Delena, Pamela, Tammy, Rochelle and Tenisha bring it home with Mississippi sounds on Anointed to Praise.

As you might expect from five sisters, the harmonies are super tight. The combo live and studio project is divided into three modes: traditional, contemporary and praise and worship.

The three worship tunes are wonderfully reflective, with laidback keyboards and soft patters of drums setting the plate for the praise. "Worship You" and "In Your Presence" stand out.

The contemporary set smolders with a mild groove; "In My Word" and "You Are" belong in that category.

But the strength of The Fordhams lies in their traditional renderings. It would seem that they recognize that, for the lion's share of the songs on the album reside in a collection of five strong and original arrangements.

Powerful is the word here, as the group sings out hard amidst splendid harmonizing. "Nothing But The Blood of Jesus" is the highlight, and possesses all the hallmarks of great traditional singing set to a hard-edged instrumental groove. The lyrics are so familiar. Set to rousing guitar licks, incessant rhythms setting the pace and organ, keys and bass weaving in and out of the vocal vamps, the words come alive.

The other cuts in the vein, particularly "Jesus, I Depend on You" and "Whatever You Need" make this disc a worthwhile grab.