the sound of a story

Sometimes I come across a song and book pairing that just capture each other so well it's startling!  It's like they were designed by the same minds!  Here are a few especially direct matches:

"Gold" by Sir Sly | Red Rising by Pierce Brown

"Mouth made of metal, metal, metal

Pocket full of yellow, yellow

Pocket full of gold

And I hope you find

I hope you find your dream

And darling never settle, settle, settle

Chasing down the devil, devil

Chasing down the gods

And I hope you find

I hope you find your dream..."

"Bite" by Troye Sivan | Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

"Kiss me on the mouth and set me free

Sing me like a choir

I can be the subject of your dreams

Your sickening desire

Don't you want to see a man up close?

A phoenix in the fire

So kiss me on the mouth and set me free

But please don't bite..."

* Ok, so I'm not the first person to think this... But it can't be helped - the whole album is full of Carry On feels, to be honest.



"Unsteady" by X Ambassadors | Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

"Mother, I know

That you're tired of being alone

Dad, I know you're trying

To fight when you feel like flying

But if you love me, don't let go

If you love me, don't let go

Hold, hold on, hold onto me

'Cause I'm a little unsteady..."

One Wild Life: Soul

Ahead of it's release, Relevant is streaming Gungor's latest album, One Wild Life: Soul. It actually marks the beginning of a trilogy--Soul, Spirit, and Body.  Gungor actually took inspiration from the format of Ryan O'neil's (aka Sleeping at Last) creative style - that of minimal touring or promotion, and spending nearly all of their energy and resources on artistic creation while also restraining themselves to a thematic project.  So, inspired by Mary Oliver's "The Summer Day" and the question it raises, Gungor aims to offer an answer spanning this trilogy of upcoming albums.

Stylistically here, Gungor has opted more for contemporary synths and beats and less for their previous acoustic sound.  Having emerged slowly over their last few albums as a lead vocalist, Lisa Gungor effectively takes the role even more often.  She leads the album's eponymous track and the song leaves breathing space for her soft quotation of Mary Oliver: "what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"  Among others, she leads on the ethereal "Moon Song" and "At Sea" as well as duetting harmonically with Michael on "Light" and "Vapor."  Her maternal presence comes through clearly in "Moon Song" and even more so on "Light," a song dedicated their daughter Lucie (meaning light) who has downs syndrome.  She explains their journey beautifully here and the song reflects the delight with which they parent.  In fact, their recently released music video for the track is comprised entirely of home videos.

The social activist facet of Gungor is overt here in a number of ways.  On first listening to "We are Stronger," I'll admit I found the first half trite.  Even now, I find the peppy "We are better together" rather childish sounding--and yet, the second half of the song is so honestly gripping that I can't skip the track.  Here, they use the bridge to whisper-sing over a choral arrangement:

Every black life matters
Every woman matters
Every soldier matters
All the unborn matter
Every gay life matters
Fundamentalists matter
Here's to life and all it's branches

They finesse these ideals further on the later track "Us For Them." Both a beautiful treatise on breaking down divisions as well as a response to last year's backlash against Gungor because (gasp!) they shared they weren't convinced by Young Earth Creationism.  Reminiscent of U2's "there is no them, there's only us" ("Invisible"), this unifying, anthemic piece affirms:

We will not fight their wars,
We will not fall in line
'Cause when it's us or them,
It's us for them
We reject the either/or
They can't define us anymore
'Cause when it's us or them,
It's us for them...

These types of moments are certainly not new for Gungor (see "God is not a White Man"), but as they've become both more artistically nuanced and more lyrically frank, they appear to echo the frustrations many younger adults have with the current state of the Evangelical Church, but they move past defiance into much broader questions.

Their eerily beautiful "Am I"--an apparent inversion of YHWH's name, to which it finally resolves--haunts with both philosophically and personally familiar questions.  It echoes many of the statement's of "I am Mountain" in obverse as questions (e.g. "am I the stars?").  He seems to constrain a scream asking "am I a dream? am I memory?" before turning falsetto to ask "am I awake? am I okay?" The song is one that could appear simple but is, in actuality, fundamental.

Although often wrestling with millenial frustrations or metaphysical questions, they also reach for the soul's true home.  Many songs touch on the mythic or mystic - as the "here's to life and all it's branches" recalls Axis Mundi.  In "Land of the Living," a cover of Matthew Perryman Jones' 2012 single from an album of the same name, they draw in all sort's of imagery of the Promised Land.

The album's finale, "Vapor," matches the sacred finishing touches to their previous two studio albums--"Every Breath" on 2011's Ghosts upon the Earth (which happens to be one of my iTunes Library's 25 most played) and "Upside Down" from 2013's I am Mountain.  Like most of the album, this song circles the holiness of the Divine and erstwhile thinness of life this side of the veil--"the vapor of it all... the beauty of it all..."--to conclude in the marriage of Creator and creation:

Come like dawn
like grace
like sunlight
Bring this world to life
Come like rain
like breath
like springtime
Bring this world to life...

One Wild Life: Soul will be available on August 7th.  

You can read some of my thoughts on Ghosts upon the Earth here or I am Mountain here and here.

Dreams to Dream

"Dreams to dream... in the dark of the night

When the world goes wrong

I can still make it right

I can see so far in my dreams,

I'll follow my dreams

Until they come true."



Like many, I was saddened to hear about the passing of James Horner last month.  Many have noted his Titanic and Braveheart scores, but the song that's playing over and over in my mind lately has been his "Dreams to Dream," the Oscar nominated song which Horner created with Will Jennings for Fievel goes West.  This scene made a lasting impression on me as a child.  And, lately, I've found myself humming it often.

 

 



Is it just me, or is this song overdue for a modern cover?  One can dream.

 

Happy Friday!

loving love

I haven't quite succumbed to Christmas music... this album is helping me remain stalwart!  [And it's just beautifully precious!]

Catch their amazing backstory on Britain's Got Talent here and here.

I haven't been able to stop listening to this song.  Then I came across this stripped down version they did at Abbey Road:

All of your flaws and all of my flaws
They lie there hand in hand
Ones we've inherited, ones that we learned
They pass from man to man

[via]

Within the last 24 hours I have scored a great deal on tickets to:

Gungor in concert - 3/26

An Emerald City ComicCon Sunday pass [to see Karen Gillan] - 3/30

John Newman in concert - 4/16

Spring is looking fantastic!!

*** Update ***

Did I mention... my flatmate and I are going to see The Lion King on April 5th? Oh yah, and that one was a gift!!

Yay! Yay! Yay!  My heart is getting ready for Spring already :)

Get Dancin': John Newman

You've probably heard this song by now, but the flatmate and I can't stop dancing along to this Romeo and Juliet inspired [sorry about the ending :/ ] music video from John Newman.

This guy is seriously impressive.  He is bringing back "Northern Soul" and it sounds amaaaaazing!  Plus, the 23-year-old Brit designs all his own clothes and jewelry.

You can read up more about him on buzzfeed
OR...
You can join some friends and I seeing him live in April in Seattle (for under $20!!).

Happy Friday and... darn, I wished people still danced like that!

Brilliant day for music!

Switchfoot's Fading West was released and is now streaming on The Drop.  It's fun.  Their first single, "Who we are" is a blast and the I rather adore the childlike rhymes of "Let it Out."  An underlying theme of the album - "we become what we believe."

 From the day we’re born
We are scarred and torn
We’ve been scared to sing out loud
But we don’t care no more
‘Cause we know life is short
And we don’t care who leaves us now
Breathe it in and let it out

John Mark McMillan's "Future Past" was also released with this music video.  It is simple.  It is beautiful.  I can't wait for the whole album.

And you,
You are my first
You are my last
You are my future and my past

And the one that made me most excited is that Kye Kye's sophomore album is now streaming here a week before it's release.  I've seen this band perform live twice and got to talk to them on both occasions.  They are such authentic artists with a sound I just love!  I've been dancing around my flat to "Honest Affection" and "Dreams (2 am)" since the singles were released, but I am loving this sneak peek at the rest of the album.

A part of me just wanted to know
But the other part was always so wasted
My heart was always made to be still
To wait because you promised you’d save it

Happy listening!

And some days, you just have to roll the melancholy music...

I will swallow my pride.

You're the one that I love

And I'm saying goodbye

And I've seen your flag on the marble arch

But love is not a victory march

It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

There is a house built out of stone

Wooden floors, walls, and window sills
Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust
And this is a place where I don't feel alone

Secret:  I only get through fall but not listen to Christmas music by doubling up on 1) instrumentals and 2) choral music.

I do this almost instinctively now.  These are by no means new finds, but I've been returning to them a lot lately:

Here are just a few to help you with Christmas-music-cravings or Fall-chills or just because...

Long Way Off // Gungor

So I’m born this bundle of skin and sinew, and then after a few years I learn to speak to these other egocentric mammals who have also learned to speak. And together we come up with grand stories and, who knows, maybe experience bits of revelation from beyond the vail. But these days of ours are very short and our experience very limited. We live a few moments, and then like mist, we disappear into the Mystery from whence we came.

So why are we so arrogant?

Why do we, the mist, the sinew, the breath think that the Mystery is so small as to fit into our little brains through the extremely limited data set of information that we have access to as we clutch for our lives to this ball of dirt soaring precariously through space and time? Because as clever as we can be, we are also fools.

- Michael Gungor,

Long Way Off

The erudite composed a thesis
Everything we see is all, all, all there is
But as an apophatic mystic
We’re a long way

We’re a long way

We’re a long way off

When the waves of time
Wash the shores stark clean
Of the memories, the last of me
With my castles gone to the constant sea
Will you stay with me
Stay with me 

Currently listening...

to a lot of Lorde.  I am super impressed by this girl!  Her sound.  Her social commentary.  Everything just points to an incredible vision.  And the chick isn't even 17 yet!

A few of my favorites off Pure Heroine  (female hero, not drug ;) -

We live in cities you'll never see on screen
Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run free
Living in ruins of the palace within my dreams
And you know, we're on each other's team
I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air
So there

The men up on the news
They try to tell us all that we will lose
But it's so easy in this blue where everything is good

And I'll never go home again
Favorite friend, and nothing's wrong but nothing's true
I live in a hologram with you

I'll let you in on something big:
I am not a white teeth teen
I tried to join but never did
The way they are, the way they seem
Is something else, it's in the blood

For more music, visit her YouTube channel.  Here's a write up from the Huff Post on her tracklist.  And here's some more awesomeness from Buzzfeed. 

Her music makes me think.  And it makes me want to dance.

Comparisons abound.  I hear her and think young Florence Welch.  No, sweeter Lana Del Rey.  No matter... Lately, Lorde's been my jam.

Containing this great treasure...

A few songs for Thursday :)

Gungor released their new album this week (yippee!)
I have to admit, I'm still warming up to it.  I got a handful of songs, and they're good.
I just still regard Ghosts Upon the Earth as one of the most incredible albums...
So it's kind of hard for me to move on with the band.

That being said... there are some great songs including the title track:

"I am Mountain" (the single) picks up on the themes of "Beautiful Things."  

The premise is the unity of creation.

God used the same building blocks for mountains, stars, and people.

Homo sapiens are unique due to God's life-breathed power,

but we are made of common, mortal elements just the same.

This song (and music video) are a refreshing reminder

that we are both common and glorious:

I am mountain, I am dust
Constellations made of us
There's glory in the dirt
A universe within the sand
Eternity within a man

We are ocean, we are mist
Brilliant fools who wound and kiss
There's beauty in the dirt
Wandering in skin and soul
Searching, longing for a home...

Momentary carbon stories
From the ashes
Filled with holy ghost
Life is here now
Breathe it all in
Let it all go
You are earth and wind

Along a similar theme, another favorite artist, Sleeping at Last released another EP last week.

Just to (re?)explain, "Sleeping at Last" is now a one-man band comprised of: Ryan O'Neil.

He writes all the the songs and plays and sings 90%+ of everything he produces.

(You may have just heard his instrumental "Households"

on Kid President's breakout video.)

This year, he's taken upon a year-long music project entitled "Atlas."

It's basically a 4-part musical exploration of creation.

He has/will release an EP every quarter.

He started with Darkness, moved on to Light, and just released Space 1, to be followed by Space 2.

It may sound like a very rigid way to produce music,

but his self-enforced discipline has provided a springboard to some incredible music.

Space 1 examines "Sun," "Mercury," "Venus," "Earth," "Moon" (a stunning instrumental!) and "Mars."

[The EP can currently be streamed here.]

The follow up will cover the rest of the planets.

Be of good cheer. I think Pluto will even be included :)

[You can read more about his project here and here]

 

As a side note, this album carries a lot of the same threads as "I am Mountain."

"Sun" emphasizes:

We are the dust of dust.
We are the apple of God’s eye.
We are infinite as the universe we hold inside.

I think there is a yearning in God's people to move a place of awareness and humility.

A posture that says, "Yes, we are special,

but only because of a gift from Father."

Because then, there are no outsiders.

There are no special clubs.

[Ok, ending a rant before I get started]

Needless to say... it's an interesting and inspiring view of our relationship to the World.

The song is currently gripping me is "Mercury."

Mercury is the type of song that makes you want to hold your breath and turn it up.

It's like you don't want to miss a single word or note.

The song is musically and lyrically gorgeous by itself, 

but even more so for O'Neal's musical decisions.

As he explains, "For a planet 70% metallic, it felt fitting to only use metallic instruments on this song (except for my voice, of course, which is made of human)."

Here is the song and the lyrics interspersed with some [commentary]:

rows of houses,
sound asleep.
only street lights
notice me.

i am desperate,
if nothing else,
in a holding pattern
to find myself.*

[*a theme running throughout the song

a need for clarity of vision -

something I am definitely seeking]

i talk in circles,
i talk in circles,
i watch for signals,
for a clue.*

how to feel different.
how to feel new.
like science fiction
bending truth.

no one can unring this bell, [Magicians Nephew?]
unsound this alarm, unbreak my heart new.
God knows, i am dissonance
waiting to be swiftly pulled into tune.*

i’ll go anywhere you want,
anywhere you want,
anywhere you want me.

[Ever been so desperate you say,

"God, just tell me where and I'll go!"]

i know the further i go,
the harder i try, only keeps my eyes closed.
and somehow i’ve fallen in love
with this middle ground at the cost of my soul.

 

yet i know, if i stepped aside,
released the controls, you would open my eyes.
that somehow, all of this mess
is just an attempt to know the worth of my life…*

…made of precious metals,
precious metals,
precious metals inside.

i’ll go anywhere you want me.

["We now have this light shining in our hearts,

but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars

containing this great treasure.

This makes it clear that our great power

is from God, not from ourselves." - II Cor. 4:7]

A few from my current playlist.

// Follow me
You can follow me
I will keep you safe
Follow me
You can follow me
I will protect you //

// The sound of the branches breaking under your feet
The smell of the falling and burning leaves
The bitterness of winter
Or the sweetness of spring
You are an artist
And your heart is your masterpiece

And I’ll keep it safe //

// And with outstretched arms
I will sing out melodies
And my beating heart
Will pour out a symphony
Hallelujah's in the morning
Hallelujah's in the night
I will wait for you as long as I have life //

// I heard the distant battle drum
The mockingbird spoke in tongues
Longing for the day to come
I set my face, forsook my fears
I saw the city through my tears
The darkness soon will disappear
And be swallowed by the sun //

// Sing it out
Sing it out
Take what is left of me
And make it a melody //

** Sorry for any of the vids with weird visuals... just listen to the song :)

Current favorite song:

*This is my type of dubstep.  And I love the U2 bit at the end :)

** I think this could be done really well with a choir and maybe a soloist or two.  Scala and Kolansky Brothers?

Wanted to say I really like "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White Tees. 

Number one - Good songs are a blend of the specific and universal about relationships. This song accomplishes that. 

Number two - My name has the same number of syllables as Delilah. So theoretically it could be substituted. 

Number three - I hope one day hear a man say, "Samara, I can promise you that by the time that we get through the world will never ever be the same - and you're to blame."

In the midst of all the running around and little things that need to be taken care of, I'm so grateful for those few moments that sometimes occur at work when Bob and I stumble onto talking about arts and culture--because that's when I discover more and more of our similarities.

I didn't think today would afford one of those moments, and I'm not sure how it happened.  But in the middle of talking about one issue or another we suddenly found ourselves praising Mumford, commenting on the quiet brilliance of Gotye (no matter how overplayed), and agreeing that (while thoroughly enjoyable) Lewis is a bit too literal for us.  We prefer the layered ambiguity of TS Eliot or Bob Dylan.  He's got me beat having read Lord of the Rings 8 times (I'm working on it =) and he had front row tickets to a U2 concert in Hawaii a few years back.  "Adele absolutely deserved every accolade she received"--I agreed.  Both holding our breath for CBS's debut of Elementary tonight.  And he promised he was getting back to Sherlock this weekend--only "Hounds" and the "Fall" left.  "You've seen them a few times each probably..."  A few, Bob.  A few.

It was 8 minutes at the most... but the conversation made my day!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

[You can tell life is full when it's thursday and you're finally writing about the weekend =P ]

I was absolutely spoiled this weekend!

I got to attend 2 concerts and be with some of my favorite people =)

Friday night, I took my younger brother, Jerry, on a date.......... to see our favorite band:

Future of Forestry

This was my fourth FOF concert (first and second experience)--and each one has been so worth it.

Obviously I'm a huge fan of their art... but more than just a fan.

They are a group of extremely talented people who have a lot of fun creating together. And that is worth the price of admission.

This year was especially moving... beyond what I can articulate.

But one of the fun parts was that my brother and I were front and center. Eric (the lead singer) kept looking over at us. In between songs, he made a comment about how unusual it was to have people singing along who knew every word.

After the concert I stood in a group, waiting to talk to Eric. But I noticed that Jerry was behind me talking to another member of the band so I turned around to chat with them.

As I did, Eric leapt out of this crowd of people, looked at us and said "Don't leave! Wait just a minute and I'll be done." I laughed, assuring him we weren't going anywhere.

So we chatted with a cool band member who had also just graduated college and then waited a bit longer for Eric. We got to spend several minutes with him, sharing some of the personal significance to his songs, thanking him for his music. But it felt mutually encouraging. He was so grateful to us... just an amazing connection, really.

The next night was also a stellar music experience: my church recorded their first live album.

Our worship leader (also named Eric) has such an incredible as a singer/songwriter. Combine that with some very talented musicians, Katie + Rose (amazing!), an energized crowd, invite the presence of God and you can expect an incredible evening!

So there's a snapshot of my fabulous, musical weekend. Hope yours was equally inspiring!

Featured Artist:

Gungor

[Ghosts Upon the Earth]

I've been in love with this album for a while now; but the more I listen to it, the more I appreciate its intricacies--poetical, musical, and otherwise.

From Let there be Light on-wards, it is such a treat. I think artists are always attempting to create holistic and cohesive albums--ones where you can't just listen to one song or put it all on shuffle because the flow is too precious to divide up. This goal is becoming increasingly harder in the age of iTunes, but Gungor really achieved it on this album.

A few lyrical delights:

"All praises to the One who made it all

who made it all

All praises to the One who made it all

and finds it beautiful

...Fearfully and wonderfully and beautifully made"

- Crags and Clay

"Where it comes flowers grow

Lions sleep, gravestones roll

Where death dies all things come alive..."

- When Death Dies

"When you first regarded me

Your eyes filled me with grace

Thereby again my eyes

Merited to adore you

Vous etes mon coure

You are my heart."

- Vous Etes Mon Coure

[yes, the chorus is in French,

yes, its a duet

and yes, its Michael and Lisa Gungor]

*   *   *   *   *

You should really look into this album (also available on grooveshark) and you can read more about the inspiration and musical achievements on Gungor's Blog.