Give Us Rest

It's not every day that a band tells you their last album will be their last, before they release it. David Crowder Band's final album, the quintessentially-DCB-titled Give Us Rest or (a Requiem Mass in C [The Happiest of All Keys]) feels bittersweet. On one hand, I am saddened by the loss of one of the greatest voices for God and the gospel in the music world. On the other, their last gift to the world is a towering epic of near-perfection the likes of which has never been heard in the world of "Christian music" and may never be heard again.

The concept of their album is that DCB is essentially doing the music for their own funeral service. And do they ever go out with a joyful noise. The scale of this album is amazing, dwarfing even Church Music with fully twice as many tracks totaling over 100 minutes. The mood ranges from reverent awe to lowly humility to euphoric, soul-bursting joy to theatrical; the musical style draws on and builds upon DCB's entire career to date. I hope I'm not sounding hyperbolic; I've listened to the album all the way through four times and find more to love about it each time. This is simply one of the most fantastic compositions, let alone Christian contemporary albums, I have ever heard. The only real weak point I see in it is the preponderance of short "filler" tracks/interludes, some of which are pretty good ("Interlude" and the "Sequence" tracks), but which I wish had been reduced. Okay, now that that's out of the way, I get to tell you all about how amazing this album is.

For fans of the band's previous work, there is of course plenty to like here. I wouldn't be too surprised to hear my church's praise band playing the lead single, "Let Me Feel You Shine", a rousing anthem to God's glory and grace that exemplifies the passion that this album is bursting with. Plenty of other bands write powerful worship lyrics, but DCB truly embodies the mood of their lyrics in their music like no one else, especially on this album. Other great songs for CCM purists would be "Come Find Me", an upbeat song driven by trading piano and acoustic guitars; "Fall On Your Knees", which has (again) great lyrics and a spacy, expansive feel/beat; and the ecstatically celebratory "Oh, Great Love of God", which...well, just listen to it. "Sometimes" is a quieter, devotional song, a tender expression of love for dependence on God: "It's your love that we adore/It's like a sea without a shore/We're lost in you..."

But this album also gives DCB plenty of time to explore their more offbeat side. Partly this is seen on the short interludes interspersed throughout the album, which contain Latin praying, choirs and organs, and classical music. "Interlude" is an especially cool one with its swirling piano. "God Have Mercy (Kyrie Eleison)" has a more electronic beat to it, almost reminding me of Owl City; "Blessedness of Everlasting Light" sounds like a cross between a music box and a marching band. In the seven-part, sixteen-minute "Sequence" suite, DCB notably flirts with progressive rock. The first part starts off with some of the heaviest acoustic music I've ever heard, overlaid by Christmas bells and electric guitar shredding; it's frenetic, moody, and undeniably cool. Over the rest of the suite we get choral music, tender banjo music, and some epic classical music. Definitely one of the more interesting parts of the album.

For traditionalists, Give Us Rest also has plenty of acoustic music, particularly on the second disc. After "Reprise #2", we get "Oh My God" and "I Am A Seed", energetic and upbeat acoustic songs that sound like two halves of a whole. "Oh My God" with its rising chorus reminds me of the "songs of ascents" in the Psalms. "I Am A Seed" recalls the promise of the resurrection: "I've been pushed down into the ground/But I will rise up a tree". Both sound like super-happy bluegrass music, kind of like "I Saw the Light". "Why Me?" on the first disc is a much slower, more stripped-down acoustic song with David and a lone guitar. The last three songs all sound like traditional hymns (two of them are); DCB's own contribution, "Jesus, Lead Me To Your Healing Waters", reminds me of the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and "Leaning On the Everlasting Arms / Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus" is also very well done.


But this is, after all, a requiem, and a few songs remind us of this fact. The largely acoustic "Oh My God I'm Coming Home" is played over a soundscape of a guy getting into a car and driving off. The first full-length song, "Oh Great God, Give Us Rest", is a heartfelt piano piece expressing their weariness with performing. In the line "I've done my part too well, I 'fess" we get a clue as to why. In Christian music there is a fine line between being forgotten and hogging God's rightful glory, and perhaps the only way for DCB to avoid doing either with this album was to make it their last. David Crowder Band has been a true credit to the Kingdom of God and "Christian music", setting the artistic bar that so many other well-meaning performers aspire to. They will be missed. But the love of God goes on forever--and ultimately, that's what DCB would want you to take away from their music. It's hard to believe the music in heaven will vastly surpass even that of Give Us Rest.