Gungor
Beautiful Things [Brash Music]
www.gungormusic.com
The album title refers to the beautiful things that God does, but in a way it is self-referential; this is a truly stunning album. Lyrically, it is a celebration of many central and tender tensions in the Christian faith. The vision of this album seems equally inspired by the beauty of God’s works and the realization that there is yet much restoration to take place. Doubt, faith, joy and solemnity are all given their due as the listener makes his or her way through the tracklist. The heart and mind come away nourished.
The album begins with “Dry Bones” and in great anticipation; the music holds back to match the lyrics perfectly. Next, a major cadence is introduced. Then the song bubbles forth a torrent of statements of faith: “only you can raise the dead, can lift my head up / Jesus, you’re the one who save us, constantly creates us into something new / Jesus, surely you will find us, surely you’re messiah, you’ll make all things new / Life is breaking out”.
Who is Gungor? Formerly the Michael Gungor Band, the band has decided to simply go by “Gungor” to reflect greater unity and to draw the focus away from one particular person. Michael says that the choice reflects seeing their place in God’s much bigger picture. The album unfolds some of their realizations of God’s infinite scope, his love, and his works.
Though the album contains many moments of driven intensity, the latter part of the album was recorded in a rural Rocky Mountain setting, bringing about a set of hushed, almost minimalist alt-folk songs. This vein runs deep throughout the album but is fleshed out in the earlier songs with a more jubilant sound, especially in gospel-blues track “Heaven”. This quiescent turn is powerful. “Please Be My Strength” and “Higher” are weighty and richly psalteric.
This is Christian music at its finest. Gungor employ a multiplicity of styles and master them. This album is highly enjoyable. What Gungor presents to their listeners with this release is an album that is sophisticated but unpretentious; deeply refreshing in many ways and reflective with meditation upon many key Biblical tenets. What it expresses is the band’s growing understanding of a grander and grander God and it dares the listener to allow God to open their mind too.
Bethel Live
Here Is Love [Bethel Music]
www.ibethel.org
Bethel Church, known for its vibrant music scene and its teaching on worship and ministry, is the creative domain of artists like Kim Walker-Smith, Chris Quilala, Brian and Jenn Johnson, Leah Valenzuela, and Kristene Mueller, who feature as the leaders of this inspiring live worship recording.
The album is entitled Here Is Love because it speaks of the love of God that we can experience in the moment, but also because worship is a love offering to God. This concept is really distilled in “I Love Your Presence”.
New listeners might enjoy this album because it contains several astounding tracks that are coming to eminence within church/worship arts circles. Hopefully everyone can enjoy it because the whole project is so inspired by the adoration of God. If the tracklist is new to you, this album is a good purchase because it contains songs that focus on God and celebrate encountering Him. It is filled with a lot of joy and a lot of free expression, including spontaneous songs led by the Holy Spirit.
Although there has been a veritable landslide of worship music recorded in the past three decades, Here Is Love is a recording that stands out for its quality and its intensity (in both its loud and still moments), and it is definitely one worth having.
Secret & Whisper
Teenage Fantasy [Tooth & Nail]
www.myspace.com/secretandwhisper
Secret & Whisper hail from Kelowna, BC, but because of their contract with Tooth & Nail, the bulk of their tours and airtime take place in the US. Sonically, Secret & Whisper bridge genres and strike comparisons to bands like 30 Seconds to Mars, The Mars Volta, Saosin, Thursday, Thrice, Extol, and The Used, but the band stands alone with a unique sound which they are proud to pioneer.
Inspired by older bands that produced thematic albums, Secret & Whisper see Teenage Fantasy as a little anachronistic considering that in an age of track-by-track MP3 downloads, it was produced with the idea of a unifying concept behind it. The themes include “weird stuff” out of vocalist Charles Furney’s own life experience, like his old bedroom, the movie Dune, alien abduction, native warriors and depression. This is the band’s sophomore release.
What’s behind a title as peculiar as Teenage Fantasy? Charles discloses on the band’s MySpace page that, “[We] called it Teenage Fantasy because we all had a dream when we were young to be rock stars, famous and making millions. However at this age and being the music industry as a whole is in a state of depression; we’re coming to the thought maybe it was just a hollow fantasy”. For a band with old dreams like that, it is encouraging to know that they rarely fight. They all have a hand in the songwriting process and are all concerned about the aesthetic of their art, which continues to integrate airy and surreal treble tones as well as highly overdriven crunchy guitar and drum parts. The drumming is technical and complex. Rapid fills and intricate patterns characterize the entire album.
Secret & Whisper have a lot of creativity to offer. This, their second album, is unafraid to be experimental and exploratory, and the band does not have a problem defending its artistic choices. Besides pushing the tight and explosive drive in their music that was a hallmark of their first full-length disc Great White Whale, there are songs on this album that reveal the band’s ability to pull off placid tunes too. If you purchased Great White Whale, chances are you will enjoy Teenage Fantasy. If you are interested in progressive, experimental rock or post-hardcore, head over to their webpage now.
Adie
Just You And Me [BEC Recordings]
www.myspace.com/adiecamp
Genuine worship makes no distinction between what is done in private and in public. Just You And Me is a special album because it is essentially an invitation to participate in this worshipper’s personal concert for God. Adie is a congregational worship leader and has built this album with songs that resonate in her heart. Not all the songs are hers; the disc features Adie’s renditions of worship pieces from the likes of Kim Walker-Smith and others.
Adie, wife of Jeremy Camp, hails from South Africa, and came to America at age 19 with The Benjamin Gate. They had toured extensively and so after The Benjamin Gate disbanded, she took a break from music to recover from burnout. Now 28 years old and the mother of two, she has partnered with Jeremy on many of his recordings and this is the second of her own. She speaks in this recording from her personal experience with God which has developed with changing life circumstances. In former interviews, Adie has spoken of the effect her daughters have on realizing the heart of God, and her involvement in initiatives like this year’s Extraordinary Women Conference, or working with Jeremy in their ministry have brought her many opportunities to see God move and love in amazing ways.
The sound of Just You And Me is slightly more serene than Adie’s 2006 release Don’t Wait. It exhibits a lovely blend of acoustic folk, pop and rock, comparable to pop icons Michelle Branch or Sheryl Crow, yet with a true orientation toward the divine. The musical set-up is fairly standard for the better part of the album but Adie’s rich voice floats amongst well-placed instrumentation: arpeggiated electric guitar, keyboard, and strummed acoustics. “Redemption song” makes use of some beautiful organ tones as well as violin.
Overall, Just You And Me is a good album. It is not particularly innovative but it is heartfelt, reverent, and tender.
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