Church Music

I return to this blog! I'm still working on the whole "posting on a consistent basis thing"; now that it's summer, I really have no excuse. I have plenty of music I could write about; it's mostly a matter of putting in the time and thought. For now, I write on what I'm currently listening to: David Crowder Band's new album, Church Music.

David Crowder Band has always been a rather offbeat, "interesting" group that always stays rooted in solid Christian worship. They span many different style, combining reverent praise music with rock and electronic influences in fascinating ways. So, as fans of the band would expect, Church Music isn't just a stuffy collection of hymns set to a beat or the like. It's an uplifting 73-minute odyssey through the Christian faith, every bit as eclectic and  God-centered as DCB's previous releases. One interesting thing, rare in Christian music, is that the songs all flow directly into each other, effectively making the album a single 73-minute Christian epic. The last song even loops into the first in case you want to listen to it again (which is perfectly understandable). They did this by sequencing all the songs electronically, then playing over them while leaving the synthesizer skeletons of the songs intact, resulting in a hybrid atmosphere of synthesized and human-made music.

That said, even in an album of such length the songs never get old. As one would expect from DCB they all sound quite distinct, but manage to be consistently appealing and powerful. My personal favorite is "Eastern Hymn", which has one of the most beautifully uplifting choruses of any Christian song I know as well as some of their trademark Game Boy sounds (which I think music needs more of). There's also God-glorifying Christian rock like "Alleluia, Sing" and "God Almighty" and more dance-able numbers like "The Nearness", "The Veil", and "Church Music - Dance[!]", which channels a good deal of Daft Punk.  Besides worship music, the album has more personal songs like "How He Loves" (which I happily discovered I already knew from my church) and "All Around Me".

All around, an amazing release from the illustrious David Crowder Band proving that A) they still have what it takes as one of the most fascinating Christian bands out there and B) God is still wonderfully amazing. Though some of the songs do stand out, if you're considering this album I advise buying the whole thing for the complete experience.