I am currently listening to an impossible sound. It’s a beautiful collision of two things that don’t normally go together: liturgy and pop-electronica. Charles Wesley would probably have no categories to what has been done with his “Hymns for Our Lord’s Resurrection” from 1746. In it is a nine-stanza hymn, “Jesus Show Us Thy Salvation,” which Cardiphonia describes as Wesley’s riff on the lengthy Anglican prayer, The Great Litany. Cardiphonia has chosen to set each stanza apart in its own song, creating a nine-track record of meditations that aren’t meant to be sung by congregations but heard and pondered. The album is called, To Heaven Restored: Songs for the Great Litany.

The production is marvelous, and the songs are creative and diverse. I hear tinges of Sufjan (“7. By the Pomp of Thine Ascending”), Odelay-era Beck (“6. From the World of Care Release Us”), 8-bit Nintendo jazz (“8. Glorious Head, Triumphant Savior”), Postal Service (“3. Unkempt Untempted,” “9. By the Coming of Thy Spirit”), and then many other things that defy categorization and association. 

If you’re looking for a different angle on preparing and nourishing your heart this Holy Week (or any time, for that matter), go get Cardiphonia’s latest gift to the Church. If you’re just streaming it on bandcamp, you’ll notice that they’re releasing a new song every day of Holy Week, but you can get the whole album immediately just by purchasing it there or in the widget below.  And go read more about it over at Cardiphonia!