6th November, 2006

JUSTIN MICHAEL   

Album: Everyone
Artist: Reuben Morgan
Label: Fivelines
Enhanced: Yes - CD contains song book with lead sheets and lyrics.

In a word: Worldwide-worship

"This album should be the catalyst which makes Morgan a household name rather than ‘the guy who writes for Hillsong’."

Reuben Morgan’s blog begins: "Jesus tells a story in Luke 14 about a man who invites a great number of people to dinner at his house but they all give excuses about why they can’t come. He becomes angry and sends his servants out into the streets to invite whoever they can find. It ends up that many people came but the master wasn't completely happy...there was still room for more. This story just makes me think about the way God encourages everyone to come to Him so that His House will be full. It's a picture of the Church and the Kingdom of God."

One of Australia’s leading contemporary congregational song writers, it takes only a moment to recognise a lyric or a melody Morgan has written over the years - think of familiar titles such as For All You’ve Done, Still, Eagle's Wings (with which the Katinas reached #1 in the US last year on the Inspo charts) and Mighty To Save.

Still on staff with Hillsong church as a worship pastor, Morgan has been touring the world since the release of his debut solo album World Through Your Eyes in 2004 and getting home for church on the weekends. As an artist, he seems determined to be a force across the world who is grounded in the local church; something that has been written in the DNA of the Hillsong church for 25 years now.

Where WTYE fell short was in the ‘songs-we-know’ category. It seemed that the touring that accompanied the album was more about the congregational songs than the emo-rock that appeared on the album. When this reviewer saw a performance shortly after the release of the album, not one of the radio singles were featured in the event. A tad disappointing, but a mark of what was to come next.

So, now to Everyone. An album that invites everyone to gather and worship. This album should be the catalyst which makes Morgan a household name rather than ‘the guy who writes for Hillsong’. To be heard on tour with Delirious in Europe during the last quarter of 2006, Everyone will strike a chord because, whether audiences realise it or not, they will know these songs.

With songs like Emmanuel, You Alone Are God and More Than Life, we get the song we know with new musical brush strokes, filtered grooves that would be happy on a Massive Attack album as well as the layered guitars, organs, choirs and assorted keyboard loops that producer and band member Paul Mabury has become so well known for.

The album opens with the only brand new track, and current radio single, on the disc, All for You. From the first clap to the final shout, it’s a joyful tune that had me wishing there was more than just one brand-newy. I think Everyone may serve the rest of the world better than the Aussies ‘n Kiwis who heard the songs as soon as they were written and have sung some of them with gusto since 1998.

Still, Morgan is carving out a new sound with great artistry. It seems to me that Reuben Morgan, if he isn’t already, will soon be a worldwide trademark. And deservedly so.

Justin Michael can be heard weekday mornings on Geelong-based radio station 96.3 - www.rhemafm.org.au.