It’s always good to encounter a brilliant project hiding the wings. While not a secret to Gospel’s inner circles (the choir was tapped by Angela Spivey to accompany her during the 2002 Stellar Awards taping), the wider community will have no choice by to sit up and take note when the sounds of Minister Prince Yelder and DFC come to their speakers.

Hailing from Birmingham Alabama, their Old School Nu Skool album is on Total Praiz Records and serves up a gratifying project that true to title, combining classic traditional Gospel with new millennial sensibilities, creating a sound and a project that deserves multi-play. DFC excels throughout with and the calibre of featured soloists is high.

Yelder frequently takes familiar compositions and reworks them slightly on the arrangement side, to great success. On “I Really Love The Lord”, he brings back the Jimmy Dowell classic and makes it a gem all over again, complete with complementary female and male vocal leads courtesy Tara Burke and Eric White.

The shout-tempo of “Take The Lord At His Word” has the band gilding the piece with groove as LaChelle Kelly pushes her lead vocals to glory on top of the choir’s pumping praise.

Yelder writes “Tomorrow’s On The Way”, a sweetly-rendered ballad featuring tenor Jonathan Braxton that tells of the pain and suffering that come along life’s way. Keyboard changes and organ swells move the piece into an ultimately hope-filled expression of God’s mercy and grace.

Other star cuts are Bishop Charles Woods’ churchy “Running, Ain’t Got Tired Yet” and Al Hobbs’ stirring “As Far As The Eye Can See”.

The closing nearly 10-minute “Old School Medley” rounds out the 10-song album and sure enough takes you back, combining diverse selections such as “I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired” with accapella spirituals and more.

No wonder that artists in the know turn to Min. Prince Yelder & DFC for support. They’re the complete package.