Weekend Extra #1: Music Review

by Frank Turk

One of the massive advantages of being a blogger on a widely-read blog like this is the free stuff one can get if one is even remotely conscious, but the down-side of that is also living up to the expectation that you will actually review and promote for of that stuff. That's a pretty massive down-side, btw, because it's easy to get way behind in reviewing -- an really to find that the last batch of stuff you got is full of titles you're probably going to pan or find unfortunate.

So on this long weekend in the US, I'm going to start with a project that I was much encouraged by so I can build up a head of steam and get the pile of obligations off my night stand. Note to Publishers and Artists: I really am pleased to be able to do this, I just find myself pinched for time. I don't blog for a living but I blog for fun, and this is fun when I'm not swamped.

So about three years ago, when I was deceived into believing that I had time for a weekly podcast, I began to hard slog to find some appropriate intro and outro theme, and I stumbled on a song called "My Lord, I did not choose you" by a young fellow named Matthew Smith. It earned itself a permanent place on my iPod in spite of the still-birth of my podcasting career because of the minimalist beauty of the production. Matthew's voice is not operatic, and it's not jazzy, and it's not "authentic" like Bob Dylan or Van Morrsion; his arrangement of that song is not thrilling or even very innovative. But after downloading it the first time -- and I paid for that one on iTunes, and I advise you to do the same -- it was haunting. It was a great contemporary reworking of a hymn from the 19th century without sounding hokey or fake.

Back in May I think I got an e-mail from Challies canvassing fellow bloggers to download and then review the newest album by Matthew Smith, and Tim (for a moment forgetting he is an internet android with no emotions) almost actually raved about the release.

Now, you can imagine my quandary -- you've been there. Your friend who is a nerd comes to you raving about this new album, and you want to be polite because he's your friend, but you know he can't really tell the difference between King Crimson and King's X and B. B. King. But I knew Matthew Smith from my own iPod, and was grateful to get the free download for review.

Listen: we all love Sovereign Grace Music and Third Day and old Caemon's Call, but we should live a little -- otherwise we're going to wind up just like the last generation of conservative Christians who are still going to Gospel Camp revivals and can't figure out why they can't get anyone under the age of 60 to come and join them.

What's great about this album is summed up in where it fails: Matthew remixed one song on the CD (You are the Light), and he ruined it with overproduction. In trying to make his music into something it is not -- and I would argue making himself into something he does not want to be, whether he knows it or not -- Matthew Smith reveals the real spiritual depth in his natural method and approach. He's not a genre innovator. He's not looking to make songs that you want to dance to in spite of the lyrics. He's in the hard work of writing songs in a contemporary idiom which are also keeping a faithful eye on timeless truth and the beautiful message of the good news of Jesus Christ.

This may sound like I'm trying to be ambiguous about these songs, but I'm not -- the problems with most contemporary worship songs is that they work hard to be in the company of secular taste and forgets that it ought to be worried that secular tastes are both fleeting and, at their root, sinful. Matthew Smith instead works hard to speak to a contemporary audience with a minimalistic approach to the music and a maximal approach to the words he is singing/preaching. His voice is the voice of anyone who wants to praise a God who has done everything for him -- and in this approach, he has written and arranged songs that everyone can actually sing.

I have been edified by all the tracks in this release, but my favorites are the original mix of "You are the Light", the light, alt-folk ballad "I Have Seen the Lord", and the prayer-ballad "Greater than our Hearts" -- but if you pick differently, I'll total agree with you.



So here are my recommendations for you:

1. Go ahead to Matthew's web site here and preview the album.
2. Agree with me, and then buy the tunes -- but here's the deal: because Matthew is a great guy, you can use this discount code to get a discount on your purchase:

evangel (25% off the Deluxe Edition CD + Download)
evangelvinyl (10% off the Limited Edition Vinyl + Download)

[Yea, yea, I know -- I was supposed to do this review over at Evangel, but I up and left them, so I'm doing it here. This is better for Matthew anyway as we get more readers.]

3. Tell your fiends about the new Album you just got for next to nothing.
4. get edified.

More later this weekend. My conscience feels better already.

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