NEW MUSIC
SELECTIVE HEARING | Robert Berman
FOR KING & COUNTRY JOHN MARK MCMILLAN PLUMB
Burn the Ships The Mercury Sessions/The Lightning Beautifully Broken
Sessions
Joel and Luke Smallbone have been busy The celebrated singer/songwriter follows up
since their successful 2014 album Run Wild, last year’s excellent Mercury and Lightning
Live Free, Love Strong. Joel starred in the album with a pair of collections revisiting
movie “Priceless” to dramatize the ills of human those fourteen songs in acoustic settings.
trafficking, and the duo generated a single titled No mere demos, each collection delivers
after the film as well. Now, they return with a full seven tracks with alternate arrangements,
album in the same, hooky, Imagine Dragons/ including contributions from special guests like
OneRepublic vein as their previous work, Propaganda, Joy Williams, and Josh Garrels.
loaded with atmospheric keyboards in soaring “Unhaunted” sounds even more urgent without
arrangements. The lead single, “Joy,” has the clattering percussion, and the Chinese
brought the unexpected strains of the Sunday instrumentation of “Raging Moon” rings through
School song “I’ve got the joy joy joy joy down in bright and clear. If that weren’t enough, each
my heart” to mainstream channels on satellite EP also contains a commentary on each of its
radio, while other titles like “God Only Knows” songs, unfolding biographical background and
and “Amen” make their religious convictions McMillan’s thoughts on the themes and images
clear. The title song “Burn the Ships,“ like the undergirding his poetry, as well as the arc of
1994 Steven Curtis Chapman song of the the “existential crisis” that provoked the album.
same name, recalls the tactic used by the He reveals inspirations ranging from Hurricane
conquistador Cortés to ensure that his men Katrina refugees, to working in construction, to
stayed true to their assigned task rather than his kids’ scribbling on a closet wall. Between
retreating to the comforts of home. “Hold Her” the two aspects of these two releases, you’ll
dramatizes the relational separations caused find fifty minutes of music, and seventy music
by a traveling musician’s life on the road. This of narrative worth exploring.
album deserves a listen from all fans of hopeful,
Take five tracks from last year’s God Help Me
EP and add another six released this year,
and you’ll have this album of modern pop
goodness. Tiffany “Plumb” Arbuckle rode the
wave of Christian AAA pop that included Jars
of Clay and DC Talk, and she’s proved to be
one of the few artists in that cohort that still find
radio love today. The title track is a hopeful “You
are loved” song of comfort that puts Arbuckle’s
strong, yet compassionate voice front and
center of a percussive mix. “Impossible”
continues the theme of encouragement with
a galloping St. Elmo’s Fire rhythm. “I Can Do
This” delivers a minimalist, minor-key prayer
for divine assistance. “Human” exhorts us to
love our fellow men. The ballad “Sleepwalking”
recalls the slower side of recent Taylor Swift,
with a plaintive live string section playing off of
synths and piano.
Robert Berman
Robert is a Sunday School teacher, music nerd,
and acoustic guitar enthusiast. He lives in rural
Tennessee with his wife and three boys.
faithful pop.
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October 2018
WorshipMusician.com