Rise Again, the multi-artiste song for Haiti in it's hour of crisis, is a fusion in several ways. There is the obvious, the numerous performers and their various styles which come together to present the song, led off by the poster boys of dancehall you can carry home to Mama - Sean Paul and Shaggy.

But there is the music as well, where the ambience of stadium anthem We Will Rock You meets a danceable drum - yet appropriately slow - pattern, overlayed with a keyboard that would not be out of place in a good ole praise and worship session, in the part where they sound the call for those who may be feeling the tug to step to the altar, that is.

While this may all sound like a musical mishmash it, in fact, works very well.

Similarly, the lyrics presents various angles of the crisis. So Shaggy speaks to the personal effect of the tragedy, saying one cannot stay from afar and not offer aid. Another lyrics speaks to the change in value systems as one now has to reassess "the things I treasure".

And there is a twist on the old Jamaican adage 'everything happens for a reason' in the lyrics "tragedy came and really gave us/a chance to show we really care".

The chorale of harmony speaks of letting love flow and the different elements of Rise Again do come together to create an emotive, yet not overly sonorous, atmosphere of encouragement.

At three seconds shy of six minutes, it is a long song by today's instant society of channel surfing length, memory standards. But the final two minutes are given over to the music and harmony, without much by way of lead vocals.

- Mel Cooke