Recent music purchases

The Afters – Never Going Back To OK
A nice follow up to their debut album. The whole myspace/yourspace thing comes off as a little hokey but there are some good musical moments on this record. “Tonight” and “One Moment Away” are my favourite tracks so far.

 Ben Cantelon – Daylight Breaks Through

I bought Ben’s CD after seeing that he co-wrote “Happy Day” with Tim Hughes. Good stuff from another solid UK worship leader. His songs are less congregational that Hughes or Redman but still a solid collection of songs. He’s definitely influenced by those guys and is probably still developing his own style but I think we’ll be hearing more and more from him.

Starfield – I Will Go

Some good representation from the Canadian boys. This is their third album released on Sparrow (they did at least one other full-length as indies in Canada) and my first impression is that it’s the weakest of the three so far. I know bands usually have a sophomore slump but I think this may be the slump record for these guys. They are sort of being cast as the new Delirious/Newsboys and I think they are still growing in that. The good thing is that these guys are STUPID talented and focused on God so they will continue to grow and continue to produce good music.

Eddie Kirkland – Orthodoxy

Love it. I’ve got to find a way to do “Hands Of The Healer” in a service. This is so different from the typical worship stuff that’s out there right now and if he’s as influenced by Chesterton as I think he is, you know this is going to have solid theology behind it. If you’ve seen the videos and responses to “How He Loves Us” online and have not really felt as WOW about it as other people seem to be (I’m including myself in the “I’m not so sure” group) then you may want to hear his version of this great song.

Lee McDerment – A Matchlight In The Dark

Lots of hype about this CD in blogworld. Lots. And it is warranted – solid record, good music, great lyrics. Lots of people are pumping this album as “worship for men” and I think that’s only part of the story. This is a solid record with songs that could definitely be used by churches whose sound lines up close with what’s on the radio.

 Tommy Walker – I Have A Hope (single)

I was on worshipsource.com randomly a couple of weeks ago and heard a preview of this song (I didn’t buy the whole album) and was instantly hooked. Tommy Walker is a genius of modern-day worship songwriting. I was actually trying to figure out a way to try and make this song work in our Easter Sunday service but it didn’t happen. We will definitely be doing this one – at least as a presentation song – sometime soon.

Nichole Nordeman – Recollection

I have loved Nichole’s songs for a long time. Buying this album was a no-brainer for me. She is one of the most poetic, expressive songwriters out there and the depth of meaning tied up in seemingly simple lyrics blows me away.