DAVID ADAMS reports…
We all need hope. That’s the premise behind a new album, Hope: Songs of Faith and Inspiration, which aims to provide a positive alternative to the often negative music landscape in Australia.
The album, which is being produced as a partnership between ABC Music, Universal Music Australia and World Vision Australia, features artists including world renowned stars like Olivia Newton-John and Darlene Zschech as well as recent chart toppers Mark Vincent and Stan Walker, and was produced by Chong Lim. It debuted at number 46 on the ARIA top 50 best selling albums chart in mid-April.
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“Each artist has chosen the track that they want to sing and whilst clearly a lot of the songs do have a strong Christian tone to them – and an unashamed one, it’s terrific – but…hope is for everybody and I think every track has something in it for everyone.”– Andrew Hagger, co-producer of Hope |
The vision for its creation came from banker Andrew Hagger. Mr Hagger, currently group executive, people, marketing and communications at the NAB, says the idea for the album partly came out of time he was spending with cancer sufferers as part of his involvement on the appeal committee of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre. He first approached Rev Tim Costello, chief executive of World Vision Australia, in 2005 about the possibility of making the album.
“I said to him, ‘I feel there’s far too much music out there that’s negative’,” he recalls. “I was spending quite a bit of time with cancer sufferers because I was involved with Olivia Newton-John’s Cancer & Wellness Centre – still am – and just in talking to those cancer sufferers, they want to reach out for hopeful music.
“And so (I told him) I’d like to put an album together called Hope and would he be happy to bookend the album with some words on hope? And then I would hope to approach some of Australia’s best musicians to see whether they would be happy to lay down some tracks that were special to them in this whole arena of hope. And that’s exactly what happened – it took us seven years but we managed to do it.”
Mr Hagger says that as well as seeing the need for hope among cancer sufferers, during the making of the album he also saw it among those facing natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes and the Queensland floods.
“Then you go beyond natural disasters or health issues and you actually find that everybody needs hope. That’s my experience…”
The result is an album that features 12 tracks and a prologue and epilogue in which Rev Costello talks about hope.
While some of the artists – who also include Anna-Maria La Spina, who sang in two world tours with Savage Garden, the ‘barefoot soprano’ Annalisa Kerrigan, award-winning vocal group The Idea of North and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Andrew Naylor – are singing from a Christian perspective, others are drawing on other experiences of hope.
“Each artist has chosen the track that they want to sing and whilst clearly a lot of the songs do have a strong Christian tone to them – and an unashamed one, it’s terrific – but…hope is for everybody and I think every track has something in it for everyone.”
Some of the songs – such as the classic When I Survey The Wondrous Cross – are reworkings of existing songs but other tracks have been specifically written for the album. The latter include Darlene Zschech’s, My Hope, and three tracks that Mr Hagger has co-written with Andrew Naylor – Isn’t it Amazing which Ms Newton-John sings on the album and which was born out of speaking with cancer sufferers, as well as Ever Lifted (sung by Anna-Maria La Spina) and Glory (also sung by Ms La Spina).
“It’s nice that those songs all seem to be fitting in well with the overall landscape of the album. So there’s something fresh but also something familiar about the album,” says Mr Hagger.
Part of the proceeds from album sales go to World Vision Australia. “We’re really keen for that because we thought that it would be great if people, when they bought the album, were, in doing so, giving some hope because World Vision has such great programs in terms of the vulnerable areas of society,” says Mr Hagger.
While he won’t discuss the details of whether the artists are being compensated for their work, Mr Hagger says “it is fair to say that they’ve all been excellent in the way that they’ve dealt with us and obviously, given their standings in the music scene, we couldn’t afford to put together an album like this if they weren’t being generous.”
As well as the release of the album, Mr Hagger has also been involved in organising a series of breakfast events – known as ‘Breakfasts of Hope’ – in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide at which many of the artists have performed.
“They’ve been great mornings – each one of them inspiring in their own way…and everyone’s walked away with a spring in their step…” he says.
Mr Hagger says he’s been humbled by the number of people who have been buying the album and the stories that have returned to him about the impact it’s made.
“Probably the most common reaction is people enjoying it as something peaceful and positive and uplifting to have playing in the car or in their house. It reminds them of various occasions – some of the songs on the album will be songs that played at their wedding, for example, or a special time for them, so it’s just a generally positive album.
“For others who are going through harder times right now, the album’s already proving to be helpful for them. I’m hearing stories of people who are suffering with various things who are finding the album very good to sit back (to) and bring some peace to their lives and be something to hold on to.”
As for Mr Hagger’s own story of hope? Mr Hagger says he’s always felt blessed and grew up in a family which was heavily involved in the community.
“I think we were brought up to always look out for those that were needy around us and understand that we have an obligation as those who are blessed to help others,” he says.
“For me, my main story of hope has just been to try and bring it to other people. Having said that, I’ve had my own moments where I need to cling on to hope as well. I’ve had the odd health issue over the years and various stresses and strains like we all do, that’s life, and hope’s become very real to me in those times, too.”
