In a conversation I had with Innes Johnston from eatacd.com last week, we were talking about some of the emerging artists and bands they had on the site, and Awaken found their way into the mix. A band whom Innes knows well, their efforts were mainly geared towards live playing (always with the promise of recorded material on the horizon) and the guys at eatacd.com wasted no time in getting them on board once their EP was produced. Their EP is now available for download here 

If I were to sum up this EP in one word, it would be “energy”. From the first 5 seconds, the guitar leads you into a highly charged introduction to “Known By You”. This celebration of who Jesus is (our Risen Saviour), and who we are in Him (His children, known by Him), powerfully expresses the Gospel in a lively, inspiring worshipful chorus. As could be expected from a band with two drummers, the rhythm is strong, driving, and the dominant force in the opening song, including a worshipfully uplifting display of drumming and vocals to close out the song.

I’m a huge fan of old songs and hymns being updated, when they’re done well, and the rendition of “There Is A Redeemer” definitely makes it’s way firmly into this bracket. From the subtle opening, with a clean delayed guitar, you are taken into an atmosphere of abandoned praise to the Lord in the chorus. Nothing is held back in this song, the drums are again powerful, the guitars and bass complement the heavy rhythm track well, and yet there is still space for the vocals to sit atop this mix and come to the fore. This rework of an old song is very reminiscent of Rend Collective Experiment, and would fit nicely with the latter’s version of “Thine Be The Glory” for feel, edge, and passion.

It is important when producing a short EP to display variety, and here we find ourselves at the title track. A moving, laid back introduction displays the quieter side to Awaken, with a subtle yet powerful vocal and guitar arrangement. You can almost hear the Spirit of the Lord moving in this track, building through the initial verses and choruses. The presence of the cello on this track gives a good point to drop back to, and this is particularly evident before the closing, highly charged chorus. Here, Awaken’s brand of rhythmic explosiveness and passion comes to the fore again, with rousing drums and powerful vocals.

The EP closes out with the sole acoustic track on the album - “All My Life”. A stirring declaration of faith, trust, and surrender, this song combines a warm acoustic guitar and cello backing with a moving vocal line. This song serves as a welcome reminder to us that everything we have, every gift and every treasure, is from Him and for Him. He holds all our promises, and all our hope is in Him. The message of this song is superbly put across, and will serve as a real blessing to anyone who listens.

These guys have got something. The rawness, the energy, the passion, the heart of Awaken all come across with this offering, and I pray that this would be the start of a great new chapter for them. Bless you guys.

I've been listening to this song a lot recently, it goes some way to describing where I'm at just now. God wants us to tear down the walls, loose the chains and free our hearts for Him. He wants the best for us, He wants our hearts. Giving our hearts back to Him is the least we can do.

Isaiah 6:8 shows us Isaiah's prophecy of the Lord asking "Whom shall I send, who will go for me", and of the response - "Here I am, send me". Seize the opportunity, stand up, put your hand up for the Lord, He will give you the tools you need. I pray this would be your anthem this week.

(It's a stirringly good video too.....)

Bless you,

Ed

Rend Collective's "Organic Family Hymnal" (on which this is track 1) can be found here on iTunes 

Following on from last week's review of Drew Reese's gospel-tinged "Next Door to Eden" album, I received a very nice email from Drew over the weekend. Drew has offered readers of this column the opportunity to obtain a 20% discount when downloading this album from his Bandcamp site. Simply enter "rotheram" as the discount code at the checkout and you will receive 20% off!

Drew has been in the studio this past week making finishing touches to his new album - "Redemption" - a collection of worship songs including Matt Redman's "Facedown" and Chris Tomlin's "Awakening". There is a 30-second taster on his site, and after listening to it I'm looking forward to the album. It will be released on the 8th of February, and look out for a review of the album on this site shortly after this date.

I find it very comforting that in the midst of the modern desire within worship music for new songs, that hymns have not only stood the test of time, but are actually being reworked by modern worship leaders in such a way that they come across as new songs in their own right. In a side project to their usual brand of music, Hello Industry's Nathan Peterson and James Ross have produced an uplifting acoustic album of hymns. Incidentally, the oldest of these (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing) is some 253 years in print.

However you like to term your regular "alone time" with the Lord (maybe "quiet time", "devotional time", "reflective time" etc.) I suggest that if you are perhaps looking for some music to listen to, you try this. Since finding this album just before Christmas, I must have listened to it in it's entirety more than 20 times. It is quite simply amazing - it has opened my eyes to several hymns that I never knew existed, and it has also changed the way I view certain hymns that I thought had perhaps been overdone in their existent versions.

The inspiration in this album lies in it's simplicity in my opinion. Sparse arrangements, with only acoustic guitar and a double bass give the vocal lines the chance to be heard clearly - and it is in the lyrics of these hymns where their beauty lies. Nathan Peterson's voice is pushed to the fore in the mix, and the vocals sit perfectly over the subtle and sensitive backing. When harmonies come in (the prime examples being used in "I Need Thee Every Hour" and "All Hail The Power of Jesus' Name") they add a pleasant layer to the texture, and give a lift to the arrangement.  

The selection of hymns on this album is diverse yet cohesive, and the arrangements have a subtle blend of the familiar and the creative. A couple of great examples of this are "Nearer My God to Thee" - a hymn that starts off in quite a reflective manner but builds up through each verse before opening out into a stirring finale. "I Surrender All", usually a bright, major hymn, is given an overhaul into the minor key, and in doing so creates an emotive ambience to the backing, again with Nathan's powerful vocal. 

Nathan's sleeve notes for this album seem like a perfect way to end this review, he leaves us with the words:

“We hope the music on this album (and all of our albums) screams passion, sincerity, and creativity. And we hope our fans and friends enjoy experiencing this album as much as we’ve enjoyed making it!” 

It's safe to say I have really enjoyed this album, and if you want to do the same, find them at http://helloindustry.bandcamp.com

I have had a fair amount of experience over the years of being part of teams leading worship, and of leading worship alone, and one thing that experience has taught me is that consistency of rhythm, melody, and pitch is key to enabling accessible worship. Hymns create something of an interesting situation when leading congregational worship, as in many cases different members of congregations have been brought up singing these hymns to differing tunes. Never has the phrase "all singing from the same hymn sheet" been more apt than in sung worship. Think of well-known hymns such as "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", "All Things Bright and Beautiful" and "Amazing Grace" - all of these hymns have several versions already - do we confuse yet more people by bringing another version of this to the table?

With this in mind, producing an album where every track has a different tune to the one we're used to is potentially ambitious. I must confess, I'm not yet sold on the idea. This is by no means a negative reflection upon the artists (and there are a few notable ones to choose from) - Mac Powell's version of "And Can It Be" is emotive, with an affable melody. Chris Eaton's "Jesus Lover of My Soul" has a beautiful minor chord progression, with a great building atmosphere, good use of drums and ethereal backing vocals. There is some nice synth work and a bright feel to Mark Roach's "Christ Whose Glories Fill The Skies". All good tracks in their own right, and there are indeed some hymns I have never heard before in here. And it is here you find my counter-argument to new versions of hymns - that songs that may have been forever confined to the history books can be re-worked and brought to the fore in albums such as this. Moreover, in some cases, once inaccessible (through melody, quick changing chords, or general predictability) hymns can be reworked, maybe simplified, and actually made better through re-working.

Here, for me is a case in point:

How many versions of this song exist? Hundreds, maybe thousands. What a way to reach out to people, to give them a familiar song to sing, and yet to do it in a new way, with a recurring praise chorus. I'm not saying for a minute that this version is better or indeed more relevant as a whole than any other version of the song, but for me it gives a great hymn a bit of a lift. For you, there may be another version of this song, sung by a different worship leader, a gospel choir, or even an instrumental version that creates that same intimacy in worship, and that too is fine. For me, hymns provide a bedrock, a foundation for worship - Matt Redman once commented that Wesley wrote hymns for pretty much every life situation, and that was his way of communicating with the Lord. Most of Wesley's hymns will not be sung in many churches, yet this new collection proves that by studying what has gone before, we can draw inspiration for what is to come, using hymns that are several hundred years old.

With all this in mind then, am I for or against this idea? I am largely for the idea, though I believe that worship leaders need to be sensitive to their congregation. Rocking out Bluetree's version of "When I Survey" may be what you feel is necessary for the church, but a little pragmatism is sometimes necessary. Try different feels for songs and see what the church worships to - for that should be the goal - a church in worship.

Let me know what you think on this subject - I'd love to hear your views.....