God is always giving us a new song to sing. We’ve been writing and dreaming about this next handful of songs for the church for quite a while. In fact, a lot of the hardship that Coral Ridge has gone through over the last year has threatened to forestall if not shut down this project. But we, being both stubborn and confident in our Warrior-King Jesus’s power midst the fiery darts of the enemy, have pressed forward. And we want to share a little bit about the uniqueness of this project.
A New Kind of Production
If you’ve been following my blog over 2015, you know I’ve been doing a lot of thinking in the area of emotions and the affections. You know, too, that I’ve been interacting with brothers and sisters from charismatic backgrounds and traditions beyond my own, trying to learn from the wisdom that I believe they do have to offer me when it comes to worship and emotional/affective formation (some of the fruit of that thinking will come out in my book this year). The more we had conversations together, the more we sensed that we wanted to try something a little different for both of us. My thoughtful, artistic, passionate friends wanted to take a stab at shaping songs that came from a more hymn-based, theologically informed, and historically-rooted context. I wanted to take a stab at giving my songs in demo form over to these qualified producers to see how they might take, tweak, restructure, and reimagine my songs through their lens.
So…Dan Bashta and the hard workers over at 1971 Sounds in Atlanta are currently working on our new EP, and we should be able to lay down some vocals in February. I can’t wait to hear what they have come up with, but thanks to a test run (see below), I’m excited to tell you it’s going to sound different…and amazing.
A New Kind of Songwriting
Julie Anne Vargas and I have attempted to write a different batch of songs this time around. They were occasioned for where our church was at and where we were at. They are songs which, for us, fill holes in what’s missing in our worship and where God is leading. There are no retuned hymns on this record, but I will say that the songs we’ve written are heavily haunted by both hymns and Reformational liturgies. Here’s what we’re cooking:
- a call to worship song that interacts with the spirit of Thomas Cranmer’s opening prayers of his 1552 liturgy…the 10 commandments, hearts cut wide open, and a driving beat
- a love song to Jesus, grounded in His cruciform love for us
- an intense worship song that tarries between the bronze serpent and the crucified Son of Man
- a call to worship song that casts the service under the banner of Christ’s finished work
- a fresh big rock song based on Revelation 4-5
The Test-Run Was Wildly Successful
Last April, we did a dry run and worked with 1971 on reimagining our “His Be the Victor’s Name.” It is different, and I love it. I think you will, too. My hope is to release it early.
So please stay tuned for more updates. You can probably expect the EP to hit some time around March or April.