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25th January, 2006
JUSTIN
MICHAEL
Artist: Nathan Tasker
Album: Must Be More
In A Word: Sharp
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"While
'A Look Inside' contained great songs and
well-produced sounds, it seemed to ask you to sit,
listen and contemplate. 'Must Be More' stands
on stage with a mass of spotlights and excitedly coaxes
you to ‘stand up and sing this’!"
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When approaching
a musician from Sydney who loves his coffee, has great taste
in guitars and just happens to write inteligent pop music
carrying more Biblical teaching than most tracts you’ve
seen lately, be warned. You will get hooked on his music.
The first I heard of Tasker’s music was the double album
A Look Inside released in '04. A little scratching
of the surface of the artist's history revealed no less than
six previous albums, a large fan base crossing oceans and
a penchant for strong, studied lyrics carrying Biblical truths.
Must Be More, Tasker's eighth album, draws a line
in the proverbial creative sand. While A Look Inside
contained great songs and well-produced sounds, it seemed
to ask you to sit, listen and contemplate. Must Be More
stands on stage with a mass of spotlights and excitedly
coaxes you to ‘stand up and sing this’!
Nowhere is this more obvious than the incredible opening track
Like You Love Me. Take a dash of newsboys, a lick
of Steven Curtis Chapman and a generous dose of Charlie Peacock
(producer) and you’re close. Now curl your tongue ‘n
whistle.
Then there’s the lyrics. Where Like You Love Me
emplores forgiveness and being Christ-like, Narrow
questions the ‘grey’ life choices we make "just
to get more money and time; and we spend them both without
thinking; and leave a great love behind".
There is Witness - "I want to stand out in the
crowd; be unafraid to shout it out; just let me be your witness",
the searching truth of the title track Must Be More,
and the heart-stirring imagery of Beautiful Tragedy
- "It’s a beautiful tragedy; the cross on which
you died; you’d rather die than live without me...it’s
a beautiful tragedy."
Throw in new recordings of previously released hits Floating
and Narrow, and this CD deserves more than a few
spins on your player. It should get you thinking, singing,
humming and wanting to press repeat. Oh, and trying to figure
out if a love song which says "I’m your hostage"
is an image of love or household chores.
~ www.nathantasker.com
Justin
Michael can be heard weekday mornings on Geelong-based radio
station 96.3 Rhema FM - www.rhemafm.org.au.
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