6th February, 2009

JUSTIN MICHAEL

Album: Empty & Beautiful

Artist: Matt Maher

Year: 2008
Label: Sony/BMG - Essential
Web: www.mattmahermusic.com
 
In A Word: Honest

"Sonically it's a bit same-old, lyrically it's strong, and melodically there's lot's here you could use in your church or personal worship time."

I'm not sure if I've ever heard a lyric from a praise and worship artist that made me take notice as much as "all God's creature's got a place in the choir, some sing low and some sing higher; some just hang out like a bird on a wire, waiting to fly home". Nope, I'm not exactly sure which church would sing that part of the song, but it'd be fun to see people sing the lyrics just to watch for the wry smiles. Of course, the chorus is easy and gives place to the verse - "That's why grace is so amazin, that's why love is so absurd, that's why I sing for a God unchanging, that's why I don't care if I look like a fool".

Matt Maher is a modern writer with a familiar sound. He has teamed up with Chris Tomlin to great effect for the opening cut Your Grace Is Enough. There is also a collaboration with Brenton Brown on Lay It Down, a gentle acoustic guitar-driven prayer.

The title track gives this album its purpose and it is has stunning lyrics: "My past won't stop haunting me, in this prison there's a fight between who I am and who I used to be...Where did my best friends go? At my defence they disappeared, just like Your friends did to You, oh Lord." The chorus goes on to say "you fought the fight in me, you chased me down and finished the race. I was blind but now I see - Jesus, You kept the faith in me".

A new take on Ecclesiastes, chapter three, is heard in the Tomlin-esque For Your Glory. A piano riff pretty enough to fit any rom-com introduces As It Is In Heaven - a combination of the Lord's prayer and psalms. And an interesting take on finding Christ in life's challenges can be found in Leave A Light On, a song that borrows from the old Sunday school sing along "give me oil in my lamp, keep it burning till the break of day".

Sonically it's a bit same-old, lyrically it's strong, and melodically there's lot's here you could use in your church or personal worship time. Like most modern worship albums though, different songs minister to different people. For mine, I'll revisit this disc for Unwavering, a Graeme Kendrick-type doxology, and, of course, the insightful Empty and Beautiful.