Wed 25 Jul 2007
I don’t think there’s anyone consistently writing such God-centered, Christ-exalting, worship-inducing lyrics as the people at Sovereign Grace Ministries. However, with that having been said, I don’t listen to a lot of their music for some reasons of personal preference (please note, I have stated upfront that these issues are “personal preference”).
Much of the music produced by Sovereign Grace Ministries has a very “produced” feel to it. If music were a tabletop, theirs would be slick, you could slide things right across with little to no effort. I’m not sure if that makes sense to you or not. I’ve had this conversation with several people, some of whom understood what I’m trying to say and others who didn’t. I’m really not sure of another way to word what I’m trying to express other than that much of the music sounds very “slick.” All of this to say that I always look forward to the lyrics of the Sovereign Grace releases, but not always the music. And so arrives Asleep In A Storm, a “remix” project by Jeremy White, a member of Grace Church, San Diego.
Remix projects can be a mixed bag at their best. The idea is to give existing tracks (most of which were considered “finished”) to a producer (oftentimes a DJ) who then, as you might guess, “remixes” the songs. Sometimes this means little more than some electronic or other flourishes, while others it means the track is nearly completely deconstructed. As the Sovereign Grace website says:
This remix CD features songs from the vaults and more recent offerings, from Mark Altrogge’s “I Stand in Awe” (written in 1986) to Bob Kauflin’s “In the Valley” (originally recorded in 2006).
The material here is stellar and includes some of Sovereign Grace’s most solid offerings. As might be expected, there is no question about the God-centeredness of the lyrics which continually serve to set our affections Godward through Christ. The question, however, is how this strong lyrical material will fair under the “remix” treatment. Overall, it stands up quite well.
White does a good job of leaving the lyrical melodies intact, which then become the foundations of most of the tracks. With that having been said though, many of the tracks will be quite a startling change for many. White’s production is clean and crisp, with the vocals clearly at the forefront, which is appropriate with such clearly content-driven material. The style is loosely based on “dance” music and this is perhaps one of the few drawbacks as some of the beats feel a bit contrived (particularly the openings of “Across the Great Divide” and “For Me”).
Yet even with a couple of missteps, this is a strong release. White’s remixing never overshadows the material and in many instances, greatly enhances the songs. There is a warmth of tone to many of the tracks that the original, highly-produced originals seemed to lack (at least for me). It’s interesting that it took a remix project to strip the varnish off of some of the material in order to show the truly great songs underneath.
I’m looking forward to listening as Sovereign Grace continues to expand their musical horizons, continually pointing us to Christ along the way.
on 25 Jul 2007 at 11:11 am 1.Larry K. said …
I am wondering if they sound better live. There are certain bands that I think translate better live than on CD because their records are overproduced. Do you think this is the case with Sovereign Grace? Cheers…
on 25 Jul 2007 at 12:47 pm 2.Brent said …
Larry,
That’s a great point that I can’t really speak to. My only real exposure to live Sovereign Grace music being performed by Sovereign Grace musicians was at the 2006 New Attitude conference. I have heard their live CD and it still seems to be quite produced, with many noticable overdubs, etc.
on 26 Jul 2007 at 7:06 am 3.cameo said …
sovereign grace live is not quite as polished as their CDs, but still aims at the higher production value. i have to agree that their songs are great, but often the CDs are overproduced. though i am glad you are enjoying “Asleep in a Storm,” I personally feel that it is just another overproduced album. The vocal tracks are far too slick, and the production just seems so slick. I think the attempt to do something different musically is nice, but I felt that this album really fell short of the mark. I hope that SovGrace will do more collaboration up front with the guy behind these remixes. i.e. it would be great to hear more of his work in actual collaboration rather than in a remix setting. thanks for the review. i enjoy reading the blog…
on 26 Jul 2007 at 8:06 am 4.sleepy said …
I also agree. their lyrics are excellent, but they sound a little too clean. some of the artistry is lost unless your purpose was to make it sound that clean than I guess the art has been perfected.
But, on the other hand, is not one of the major reasons you record in the studio is to get the best sound possible or at least the sound that you want? I mean if you want to sound real or “unslick” go record in your backyard. Obviously Sovereign Grace is achieving the sound they want or they would not be recording album after album using the same style.
Telecast has also had that label applied to them by a good friend of mine. He calls them a more refined version of Coldplay, but I still love their music
on 26 Jul 2007 at 8:31 am 5.Brent said …
I think there’s a balance though between sounding so polished and as if it were recorded in the backyard. “Sterile” is a word I’ve heard used to describe the Sovereign Grace sound and I think there’s some merit to that.
on 26 Jul 2007 at 11:19 am 6.cameo said …
agreed. there is a nice middle ground…somewhere between backyard/ bedroom lo-fi and clive owen top 40. i think of records from people like spoon, wilco, and even recent bob dylan. they are recording phenomenal albums in good studios that come out sounding somewhat like the band might sound if they were playing in your living room, whereas SovGrace and other pop worship music sounds like it was recorded in a dentist’s office…sterile…good word
on 26 Jul 2007 at 4:02 pm 7.proverbs31 said …
Just out of curiosity..
Can you give a couple of examples of things you consider slick and the sound that you most prefer (links to audio clips or downloads)? I’ve never heard anyone complain about a song sounding too clean, and now my curiosity is piqued. =)
on 29 Jul 2007 at 6:52 pm 8.Brent said …
I’ve been looking for links to these songs but can’t immediately find any to link, but I would personally point to Sandra McCracken’s version of “Thy Mercy, My God,” especially that opening as a good “warm” tone. There is a certain feeling that’s there; it’s very natural.
I don’t personally think that “too clean” is really what’s meant by the use of the world “sterile” in this context, but more a lack of emotion, a lack of warmth.
I’ll try to find some tracks that demonstrate the contrast.
on 30 Jul 2007 at 10:43 am 9.proverbs31 said …
Hm. The best I can relate to is this:
Perhaps similar to the contrast of, when singing,… being too technical? Focusing too much on each note being precise, and not really singing from the heart.. Or, when playing piano, the difference between a very clean but unmoving performance and one (still clean) full of passion?
I don’t play piano, because though I could learn to play the notes, I could not master the passion and “story-telling” part. :) And as a listener I can tell a difference between those who have the skill and those who have the gift.
But I guess I never applied that distinction to songs on the radio,etc. It makes sense.
Is that it? =)
on 03 Aug 2007 at 4:54 am 10.singlechristian said …
I haven’t heard this piece, but I think I know what you are saying about “slick” — something like “elevator music,” maybe? One of my favorite praise albums is The Lord’s Supper by John Michael Talbot. They just got some regular folk in from their community to worship in the studio as background to his lyrics and vocals. It still works for me a quarter century later.
on 10 Sep 2007 at 5:36 pm 11.Chris said …
For me the distinction would be more along the lines of; does the music sound synthesized or human. I have listened to a lot of material that has seemed to lack in sincerity or passion simply because the performance takes a back seat to the production.
I do not think Sovereign Grace is any more “produced” than say, the Beatles, Celine Dion, or Norah Jones. But with these artists the production usually seems to compliment the music and performances. I am not sure that is always the case for Sovereign Grace.
With their strong biblical/lyrical content, I would like to hear more NEW songs, and am not so eager for their recycling of any given song. (This has got to be the fourth or fifth time they have re-invented You Have Captured Me)