8.99 USD

Francis'' modern rock and acoustic pop tunes reinterpret the lyrics of classic 18th & 19th century hymn writers, including Charles Wesley, Edward Mote and Isaac Watts.

6 MP3 Songs in this album (20:35) !
Related styles: SPIRITUAL: Christian Rock, ROCK: Acoustic

People who are interested in Matt Redman Jars of Clay Caedmon’s Call should consider this download.


Details:
Some years ago, I worked for an organisation which collects royalties for music publishers and song writers. Part of my job was to research the copyright status of a steady stream of traditional Christian hymns which were being recorded. Apart from a few classics, I had virtually zero interest in traditional hymns; in fact I thought they were the enemy! Most of them bored me and I was sure that they stopped people of my generation from coming to church to find out about the Christian faith.

My department had a collection of hymn books which I would dutifully search through for copyright dates. During those three pm eternal afternoons in the open plan office above Kwik Fit (You can''t get quicker), I started to read these ancient hymn lyrics and realised that some of them were really profound! I hadn’t been able to ‘hear’ the words before because they were wrapped in dated tunes that didn’t connect with me.

A defining moment came when I realised that Charles Wesley never heard his famous lyrics ‘And Can It Be’ sung to the tune that so many people still know and love today; (the one that repeats the last two lines of each verse with separate parts for men and women. The tune is called Sagina). How do I know that? Thomas Campbell the composer of the music was only eleven years old when Wesley died. Obviously the words were sung to a different tune when Wesley first wrote them. This undermined the fixed link between hymn tunes and hymn lyrics which most people hold today. Indeed the English hymn tradition was built upon the principle of the different lines in each verse having a set number of syllables in them. This is referred to as a hymn''s metre. This allowed one set of words to be sung to multiple tunes. Why not therefore recast these brilliant Christian poems into contemporary songs?

Having had this ‘unique’ idea I discovered that other artists were already on the case. Matt Redman, Caedmon’s Call, Jars of Clay, Matthew Smith and Red Mountain Music have all released recordings built on the same concept.

With ‘New Skin for Old Song’, I add my sixpence worth to the world of Christian music. May these songs point to the God who created you and who redeems those who build there hope on Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

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Keywords: mp3 album;rock acoustic;spiritual christian rock
File Size: 6 MBytes