This is a collection of songs that the church needs to sing
If you have ever felt that the sound of worship albums can be a little narrow, a little samey, a little… well, lets face it… dull – this is the album you have been waiting for.
On “The Journey” Stuart uses a wealth of musical genres to create a joyful, reflective, colourful album that is a pleasure to listen to. As with “Creation Sings”, the fiddle and whistles are there, but this is so much more than a folk album. From the acoustic simplicity of “The man who calmed the sea” to the simply stunning audacity of “Vagabonds”, there is a range of theme, emotion and style that will delight and inspire.
So is this a performance album – great to listen to, but of little relevance to corporate worship? Nothing could be further from the truth. The melodies are as strong and singable as ever, and the words continue to be profound and relevant. This is a collection of songs that the church needs to sing – songs about Jesus and the stories He told, songs of great theological depth, songs of intercession, and exuberant songs of joy and thankfulness.
This album may signal that it’s time to turn the guitar amps down from 11, time to dust off the violin and flute, get out the accordion and the banjo, and lead God’s people in worship along slightly different musical paths to the ones we’ve got use to in recent years – and, in my humble opinion, that’s no bad thing…
