International Times: The Conundrum

My latest set of album reviews to be published by International Times covers recent albums by Deacon Blue, Mumford and Sons, and Andrew Rumsey:

'Knowing how best to develop your sound as you progress as a band or musician is a conundrum which many musicians do not solve. The best, make significant changes in style while retaining their core interests, while others continue to plough the same furrow, often with diminishing rewards.

Deacon Blue, after two hiatuses, are in the full flush of a late flowering, Mumford and Sons are returning to their original base after a somewhat unconvincing reinvention, and Andrew Rumsey is on his second album in a similar style.'

For more on Deacon Blue see here and for Mumford and Sons see here. For more on music and faith see my co-authored book 'The Secret Chord'.

My earlier pieces for IT are an interview with the poet Chris Emery, an interview with Jago Cooper, Director of the the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, a profile of Bill Fay, plus reviews of: 'Breaking Lines' at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, albums by Joy Oladokun and Michael Kiwanaku; 'Nolan's Africa' by Andrew Turley; Mavis Staples in concert at Union Chapel; T Bone Burnett's 'The Other Side' and Peter Case live in Leytonstone; Helaine Blumenfeld's 'Together' exhibition, 'What Is and Might Be and then Otherwise' by David Miller; 'Giacometti in Paris' by Michael Peppiatt, the first Pissabed Prophet album - 'Zany in parts, moving in others, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more unusual, inspired & profound album this year. ‘Pissabed Prophet’ will thrill, intrigue, amuse & inspire' - and 'Religion and Contemporary Art: A Curious Accord', a book which derives from a 2017 symposium organised by the Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art.

Several of my short stories have been published by IT including three about Nicola Ravenscroft's EarthAngel sculptures (then called mudcubs), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford in 2022. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes'. The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King', and the third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'. My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, 'The New Dark Ages', a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and 'The curious glasses', a story based on the butterfly effect.

IT have also published several of my poems, beginning with The ABC of creativity, which covers attention, beginning and creation, Also published have been three poems from my 'Five Trios' series. 'Barking' is about St Margaret’s Barking and Barking Abbey and draws on my time as a curate at St Margaret's. 'Bradwell' is a celebration of the history of the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, the Othona Community, and of pilgrimage to those places. Broomfield in Essex became a village of artists following the arrival of Revd John Rutherford in 1930. His daughter, the artist Rosemary Rutherford, also moved with them and made the vicarage a base for her artwork including paintings and stained glass. Then, Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones moved to Broomfield in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden and both achieved high personal success. 'Broomfield' reviews their stories, work, legacy and motivations.

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Andrew Rumsey - The Memorial Service Orders Of Friends.

The mystery at the heart of music (2)

My original post titled 'The mystery at the heart of music' highlighted 'Surrender', the memoir by Bono, Bob Dylan's 'The Philosophy of Modern Song', 'Faith, Hope and Carnage', Nick Cave's conversation with Sean O'Hagen, and Richard Koloda's 'Holy Ghost: The Life and Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler'. I concluded that, in different ways, these books and the music they describe inhabits the space of genuine mystery and deep yearning that Nick Cave argues is 'at the heart of songwriting.'

To these four, needs to be added, 'Walking Back Home: Deacon Blue and Me' by Ricky Ross. Chris Deerin writes that: 

'Step back, and Ross’s life and trajectory seem ludicrously gilded: early success, Top of the Pops, sell-out stadium gigs, tours of the US, rubbing shoulders with Springsteen and Bono. But this book takes us in closer, to the struggles and the doubts and the losses; to a somewhat repressive upbringing in a Dundee Brethren family; a painful divorce from his first wife; the regrettable explosions of his burgeoning pop star ego; the sudden, unexpected loss of a career and an income; the moments of apparent hopelessness and vanished muse; the tragic death of a bandmate.

Ross is bracingly honest with the reader and himself, and his capacity to learn both from his successes and failures has forged an unusually deep level of wisdom. He is sustained by his religious faith, though is never heavy-handed about that ...

And through it all there has been the music: “The only thing I have ever been fascinated by was the power of a song, and what a song could do to me when it really connected.”'

Paul English in an interview for The Scotsman suggested to Ross that the pursuit of joy, 'whether on stage in front of 250,000 headlining Glasgow’s Big Day in 1990 or visiting slums in Brazil with Christian Aid', was a recurring theme in the book. Ross responded that: 

'It’s the constant search in the book ... I think that’s the search for most people – to realise when you are happy, to realise when life is good. I don’t want to use the cliche of Calvinism, but there is a sense in which sometimes that can dominate our lives, that somehow you deny yourself.

I think you have to allow yourself to celebrate these moments. I talk about a gig we played in Kilmarnock prison, and the chaplain Fr Joe Boland saying to me that where there’s joy there’s God. And that was such a great thing.”

Greg Clarke in an article on Bono, Nick Cave, and their spiritual quests based on their books writes that: 'Submit, surrender, let God be God, recognise a higher power. These are the concluding observations of two of the most famous musicians of the past forty years. It’s not very rock and roll.' 

But it maybe that these five books appearing together indicates that such observations are actually very rock and roll; something that should come as no surprise as rock, soul, and R&B grew from the roots of gospel through artists such as Sam Cooke, who transitioned from gospel to secular music, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and her early rock stylings, and Elvis Presley, who helped expose white audiences to gospel music. Examples of some of the most beloved contemporary pop music of the last 60 years, from artists such as Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, and Ray Charles, illustrate gospel music’s ongoing influence.

Add to these roots: first, the Church's appropriation, beginning with the career of Larry Norman, of rock and pop to speak explicitly about Christian faith; second, a growing appreciation for and understanding of the biblical language and imagery of stars like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen; and third, musicians from After The Fire and Bruce Cockburn to U2 and Deacon Blue, in the words of T Bone Burnett, singing about the world as seen through the light (of Christ) as opposed to singing about the light (of Christ) as CCM artists did. These all take us to a place where the embrace and examination of Christianity in these books is perhaps as rock and roll as sex and drugs have been.

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Deacon Blue - Keeping My Faith Alive.

Walking Back Home and Short Stories Volume 2

Never one to shy from telling stories, Deacon Blue's Ricky Ross is now telling his own life story in a new book. But there's also more music too. He says: ‘For all these years I’ve told stories. Sometimes these days I also tell them on the radio. I’ve met some amazing people and their stories need told too."

His memoir, ‘Walking Back Home’, has recently been published. He writes: "In the book I write about growing up in Dundee, my first forays into music and my life with Deacon Blue. I also discuss my relationships with faith, politics, and the ever-changing challenges of being a musician."

His latest album Short Stories Vol2. is also out now: "I’ve always been interested in telling stories. Most of the stories have become songs but some stories take a little longer. A couple of years ago I started to write down some longer memories which didn’t fit as snugly into verses or choruses. I hope people might enjoy the stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them down."

Read his interview with Lorraine Wilson here.

I'm looking forward to seeing Ricky Ross at Emmanuel Billericay on the Short Stories Vol2 tour. Read a review of his performance at Emmanuel on the first Short Stories tour, a gig which I also saw.  

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Ricky Ross - Bethlehem's Gate.

Top Ten 2021

This is the music, in no particular order, that I've most enjoyed listening to in 2021:

Bob Dylan - Springtime in New York, The Bootleg Series: Springtime in New York represents a significant re-evaluation of a period of Dylan's work which had largely been written off (Shot of Love and Empire Burlesque) or thoroughly misinterpreted (Infidels) by those who wanted back the Dylan that they thought they had possessed rather than the Dylan who was actually evolving in front of them. Dylan left classic songs such as Caribbean Wind, The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar, Angelina, Blind Willie McTell, Foot of Pride, and New Danville Girl off these albums. While each album included other classics such as Every Grain of Sand, Jokerman, I and I, and Dark Eyes, had the songs left off these albums been included the reaction to the albums as a whole would have been enhanced. In addition, these dense, wordy yet illuminating songs would have made it clearer that, in this period, Dylan was moving away from the simplistic and direct expression of faith that characterised the Gospel albums to songs where his exploration of faith was both more allusive and open. Springtime in New York reveals the inadequate nature of much initial response to a complex changing artist like Dylan while also showing that such initial misunderstandings of his work by becoming the standard response actively prevented understanding of the work until challenged by unreleased songs the quality and spirituality of which could not be denied.

Piers Faccini - Shapes of the Fall: 'In Shapes Of The Fall Piers Faccini has created a masterpiece – cerebral, thought-provoking, but above all, musically, an intensely enjoyable listening experience.' 'As he explains, “The fall is what we’re already living through, there is a kind of collapse happening already. And alongside that, I wanted to play around with the myth of the Garden of Eden, as if it were today.” The exhaustion of the planet’s resources and ongoing environmental catastrophes and loss of bio-diversity evidenced first-hand in his witnessing trees dying and birds disappearing within his locality leads him to pessimistically question man’s relationship with his environment whilst ruminating upon any possible resolutions. Thus hope and desperation, destruction and rehabilitation are parallel dichotomies that run like threads through the album.'

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - Carnage: 'Carnage comes after a remarkable trilogy of Bad Seeds releases, in which Cave and his band—among the fiercest animals in rock’n’roll, when they want to be—approached total stillness.' 'The story they tell is a version of the one Cave has spent his whole career telling, before and after the tragedy that ruptured his personal life—about our equal capacities for cruelty and love, and the flickering possibility of salvation in a brutal world.' 'As ever, Cave uses overtly religious imagery in ways both subversive and devout. The “kingdom in the sky” first appears in the album’s opening lines, where the foreboding music suggests we are doomed never to find it. Its final recurrence comes near the album’s end, in the dreamlike “Lavender Fields,” where a choir urges Cave’s narrator to have faith despite his loss: “Where did they go?/Where did they hide?/We don’t ask who/We don’t ask why/There is a kingdom in the sky.”'

The Alpha Band - The Arista Albums: 'Originally T-Bone Burnett, Steven Soles and David Mansfield met when they worked together in Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder review backing band. When the wheels fell off the bus of that particular tour at the end of 1975, the trio were immediately signed by Arista with big things predicted. They recorded three albums - 'Interviews', 'Spark In the Dark' and 'The Statue Makers Of Hollywood' - before sadly quitting as a band in 1979. Despite the high expectations and critical acclaim poured on the band, they failed to convert their talents into record sales so despite being fine albums, these remain cult classics. In hindsight, perhaps The Alpha Band were just too good or just ahead of their time. Mixing a myriad of Americana and world music influences together, they manage to sound spookily contemporary to 21st century listeners.' Robert Christgau writes of The Alpha Band as 'a country-rock band shocked by city living into a credible, slightly surrealistic nastiness, rather than the usual sleazy lies.' 'This unholy trio's second album is "humbly offered in the light of the triune God," but T-Bone Burnett still sounds like a helluva monad to me.' 'Now I learn that my man J.H. Burnett really is a born-again Christian, which must be why he feels so strongly about money changers and temples. Nonbelievers consider him shrill, but I find something sweet and reflective right beneath his cool, caustic self-righteousness.'

Our Lady Peace - Healthy in Paranoid Times: 'Deeply motivated by today’s social climate, Our Lady Peace finds a smooth balance between enjoyable music, and deep-thinking lyrics. This is surely one of the most mature albums that the group has made to date; and stands quite strongly in the post-American Idiot world of politically-minded rock records. The album opens with the punchy “Angels/Losing/Sleep,” and is represented on the airwaves by jaunty first single “Where Are You.” Highlights include the darkly played track “Wipe That Smile Off Your Face,” U2-tinged “Boy,” and the gorgeous, subdued album closer “Al Genina (Leave A Light On).” Sung with such passion, and child-like hope (choked with cynicism); it is truly a gorgeous tune.'

Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus - Songs of Yearning: 'The revival of Revolutionary Army Of The Infant Jesus that began in 2015 with the Dostoevsky-quoting Beauty Will Save The World has culminated in two new albums – Songs Of Yearning plus companion, Nocturnes. Just like Beauty…, the songs here are friendlier on the ear than the experimentalism of their youth, new players (including children of the original members) bringing fresh impetus. True, a still-intense album of neo-classical 4AD-style ambient folk featuring six different languages and a cover of Ave Maria might not sound that friendly but this is beautiful music built on a relatively unchanged sonic aesthetic that still works after nearly four decades – delicate, plaintive, swelling, and with a never-ending yearning for a half-forgotten past.' 'RAOTIJ may be destined to be remain one for the Godspeed-cum-Gorecki fans but Songs Of Yearning is far purer of spirit and intent than ever before – one for the heart not the heads.'

Valerie June - The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers: 'The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers is an unusual record, one that draws together a diverse array of influences – guided meditation, Fela Kuti, Sun Ra, Memphis soul, racial oppression, pedal steel and Tony Visconti among them, and somehow weaves them into one of this year’s most exceptional offerings.' 'The Order Of Time was an intimate, half-conversational affair, that voice muted and meandering, but oddly all the more heart-rending for its new restraint. The album drew wide critical acclaim and the admiration of Bob Dylan. The Moon And Stars feels a more fully realised project, more wide-ranging and self-assured than its predecessors. Its 14 tracks offer a loose lyrical narrative of the path of the ‘dreamer’ – the conjuring of self-belief, the setbacks, the sorrows, the strength to rise again. In and between, June introduces moments of sonic contemplation that on first listen prove unexpected; it is a brave album that follows its opening track with a 55-second wordless meditation – a wind-chimed, otherworldly deep breath before the heart-thumping, percussive scurry of “You And I”.'

Mica Paris - Gospel: 'the British soul icon returns to her roots with Gospel, her first studio release since 2009’s Born Again. The scope is fairly liberal: Paris tackles traditional gospel (‘Oh Happy Day’, ‘Amazing Grace’), African-American spirituals (‘Go Down Moses’, ‘Motherless Child’), contemporary anthems, perhaps with a latent religious subtext (‘Something Inside So Strong’, ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’), and two originals which, though secular in content, have a clear church influence (‘The Struggle’, ‘Mamma Said’).' 'in many ways this is the album a lot of Mica Paris fans have been waiting for: Songs which allow Paris’ marvellous voice, and all its colours and textures, to shine. Her instrument, which drew comparisons to Anita Baker when Paris first came on the scene in the late 1980s, has deepened beautifully with age. And there are some rousing vocal performances. She allows her voice to shred as she catches on a high note, opting for impassioned imperfection over polish. The heaviness and depth to Paris’ vocal imbues spirituals ‘Go Down Moses’ and ‘Motherless Child’ with a conviction and confident storytelling. Flecks of bluesy guitar swirl around Paris on original song ‘The Struggle’, where she sings of the challenges of navigating this world as a Black woman.'

Deacon Blue - Riding on the Tide of Love: 'Deacon Blue’s new album was never meant to be but, as Covid has bent lives and livelihoods out of shape, doors close, plans change and opportunities arise. With no option to tour their 2020 City of Love album, the band chose to mine the spirit of that record in other ways with their second album in less than 12 months. Riding on the Tide of Love is a continuation, featuring three tracks recorded during the City of Love sessions and others polished up incrementally, with each musician heading into the studio to record their part in isolation. The result is a mellow companion piece, gentle, unhurried, simple, effective and, given its piecemeal gestation, admirably cohesive. The opening title track combines a number of Deacon Blue signatures – a swagger to the rhythm, an ache to the vocals, an uplift to the arrangement – with the bonus feature of Ricky Ross intoning on the verses like a Caledonian Leonard Cohen warming to the theme of love in the time of adversity. Next comes love in a cold climate. She Loved the Snow is a winter song to snuggle up with, a comforting, cosy, breathy duet with Lorraine McIntosh. The easy rapture of their intertwined voices recalls the languid atmosphere of their 2009 McIntosh Ross album, The Great Lakes, recorded in the US with the cream of Americana players. This album is buffed up with more of a pop sheen, but the beguiling spirit remains the same, with a laidback southern soul feel to Send Out a Note. This last number is a call to call out in times of trouble, while there is further empathy in Ross’s beseeching falsetto assurance that “there’s nothing to be scared of, no reason to fear” on Nothing’s Changed. In a year where everything changed, Deacon Blue are determined to be a safe haven.'

Chrissie Hynde - Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan: A mini-genre of music has emerged in recent years: Bob Dylan tribute records from excellent female singers. Joan Osborne, Bettye LaVette, and Emma Swift have all made great contributions since 2017, but Chrissie Hynde, with her new album, Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan, may have achieved mastery. Made with Pretenders bandmate James Walbourne, via text messages during the pandemic lockdown, Standing in the Doorway is a rich experience of emotional and intellectual profundity. The eternal truth and power of Dylan’s lyrics, full of ancient wisdom and poetic dexterity, resonate with dramatic force. It is as if these songs are the chorus parts in a classical Greek tragedy, observing the consequences of human folly while also signifying the potential for deliverance. All four of Dylan’s recent celebrants demonstrate why his songs deserved the Nobel Prize for Literature.' 'The restraints of the lockdown work in her favor, as limited accompaniment — acoustic guitar, piano, mandolin, slide guitar — give the nine songs a hypnotic cohesion. Her curation is also inspired. There is not one “hit” on Standing in the Doorway. Instead, Hynde deftly leads her listeners through unique renditions of some of Dylan’s best and most obscure songs.' 'Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan rises out of the conditions of disease, chaos, and deprivation to document and exercise aesthetic and philosophic beauty. That’s one definition of hope.'   

My previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

In January I'll be talking with Delvyn Case about rock and pop songs for Lent, Easter and Christmas. The latest series of Jesus Is Just Alright for HeartEdge will look at rocking the Church calendar. Register for the series here. 

My co-authored book ‘The Secret Chord’ is an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. Order a copy from here.

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The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus - Songs of Yearning.

Begin again at Bethlehem

In 1935, Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer accepted an invitation from the confessing church in Germany to direct an underground seminary that would recover their rich Christian tradition and train a new generation of church leaders in practice and belief.

The seminary at Finkenwalde became a social experiment in intentional Christian community modelled on the Sermon on the Mount, “a sort of new monasticism.” Bonhoeffer’s book ‘Life Together’ gives the details for anyone interested in finding out more. In practice the seminary lasted but a moment; the Gestapo, the secret state police, closed the seminary in 1937 and arrested more than two dozen of its students. Bonhoeffer was also arrested in 1943 and executed in 1945, just weeks before the end of World War II.

Following the closure of the seminary, Bonhoeffer wrote circular letters to the disbanded seminarians of Finkenwalde. In the first letter, he wrote that 27 members of the group had spent time in prison. Bonhoeffer speaks in the letter of a “time of testing for us all” and implores his students not to allow their physical separation to result in their isolation from one another. A major theme of Bonhoeffer’s correspondence to the seminarians was a summons to pursue and maintain fellowship with one another in any and every way possible.

In his letters Bonhoeffer was not simply concerned to support and connect the seminarians. He also wanted to continue their theological reflection, particularly in relation to the question of who Jesus Christ is for us today. Christmas, he thought, was the key to answering that question. His view was that all the theology of the ancient church about Jesus “really arose at the cradle of Bethlehem”, and so “the brightness of Christmas lies on its weather-beaten face”. Even today, he wrote, “it wins the hearts of all who come to know it”. So, “at Christmas time we should again go to school with the ancient church and seek to understand in worship what it thought and taught, to glorify and to defend belief in Christ.”

In a letter sent at Christmas 1939, he wrote:

“No priest, no theologian stood at the cradle in Bethlehem. And yet all Christian theology has its origin in the wonder of all wonders, that God became [hu]man … Theologia sacra arises from those on bended knees who do homage to the mystery of the divine child in the stall. Israel had no theology. She did not know God in the flesh. Without the holy night there is no theology. God revealed in the flesh, the God-[hu]man Jesus Christ, is the holy mystery which theology is appointed to guard.

What a mistake to think that it is the task of theology to unravel God’s mystery, to bring it down to the flat, ordinary human wisdom of experience and reason! It is the task of theology solely to preserve God’s wonder as wonder, to understand, to defend, to glorify God’s mystery as mystery.”

That is what we are here to do together tonight; to glorify the mystery of God revealed in the flesh.

So, what can we say is going on here, where Mary becomes the mother of God, where God comes into the world in the lowliness of the manger, where pious shepherds are on their knees, and where kings bring their gifts? Bonhoeffer says that because God is in the manger, “God is near to lowliness” and “loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.”

That is the unrecognized mystery of this world: Jesus Christ as God with us. “God as the one who becomes low for our sakes, God in Jesus … that is the secret, hidden wisdom… that “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived” (1 Cor. 2:9).” It is a redemptive mystery “because God became poor, low, lowly, and weak out of love for humankind, because God became a human being like us, so that we would become divine, and because he came to us so that we would come to him”. It is also a mystery of judgment because the Christ child in the manger “pushes back the high and mighty; he overturns the thrones of the powerful; he humbles the haughty; his arm exercises power over all the high and mighty; he lifts what is lowly, and makes it great and glorious in his mercy.”

In a letter sent out at Christmas 1939 Bonhoeffer wrote about the nativity ''The body of Jesus Christ is our flesh. He bears our flesh. Therefore, where Jesus Christ is, there we are, whether we know it or not; that is true because of the incarnation. What happens to Jesus Christ, happens to us. It really is all our "poor flesh and blood" which lies there in the crib; it is our flesh which dies with him on the cross and is buried with him. He took human nature so that we might be eternally with him. Where the body of Jesus Christ is, there we are; indeed, we are his body. So the Christmas message for all … runs: You are accepted. God has not despised you, but he bears in his body all your flesh and blood. Look at the cradle! In the body of the little child, in the incarnate son of God, your flesh, all your distress, anxiety, temptation, indeed all your sin, is borne, forgiven and healed."

In a later Advent letter, he wrote:

“The joy of God goes through the poverty of the manger and the agony of the cross; that is why it is invincible, irrefutable. It does not deny the anguish, when it is there, but finds God in the midst of it, in fact precisely there; it does not deny grave sin but finds forgiveness precisely in this way; it looks death straight in the eye, but it finds life precisely within it.”

If we want to understand this mystery, find God and forgiveness in the midst of anguish, look death straight in the eye and find life within it, then we must participate in the Christmas event, “we cannot simply sit there like spectators in a theatre and enjoy all the friendly pictures”. “Rather, we must join in the action that is taking place and be drawn into this reversal of all things ourselves.”

The 17th century German mystic, Angelus Silesius, warned:

“Though Christ a thousand times / In Bethlehem be born / If he’s not born in thee, / Thou art still forlorn.”

Ricky Ross, the lead singer of Deacon Blue, wrote:

“You got to go back, gotta go back, gotta go back in time / To Bethlehem / To begin again.”

This Christmas begin again by looking in the cradle to see not only Jesus, but also yourself. That is the great insight of Bonhoeffer’s letters; where Jesus Christ is, there we are, whether we know it or not; what happens to Jesus Christ, happens to us. He became a human being like us, so that we would become divine. He came to us so that we would come to him. He took human nature so that we might be eternally with him. Where the body of Jesus Christ is, there we are; indeed, we are his body. Like new parents seeing their new-born child for the first time and recognising their features in their child, so, when we look in the manger, we see ourselves looking back at us.

“How shall we deal with such a child?” Bonhoeffer asks. “Have our hands, soiled with daily toil, become too hard and too proud to fold in prayer at the sight of this child? Has our head become too full of serious thoughts … that we cannot bow our head in humility at the wonder of this child? Can we not forget all our stress and struggles, our sense of importance, and for once worship the child, as did the shepherds and the wise men from the East, bowing before the divine child in the manger like children?”

This Christmas, go back in time to begin again. Amen.

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Deacon Blue - Bethlehem Begins.

Top Ten 2020

This is the music, in no particular order, that I've most enjoyed listening to in 2020:

Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You: '... you just need to turn it up really loud on a long, fast drive through a heartbroken summer night to hear Springsteen for the damaged hero he is. But that ensemble euphoria does work best live, when the bass is rattling through the blood and bones of hundreds of collected humans. The live recording of this record really helps deliver that communal feeling. They feel so present and close that listeners might feel they’re violating the pandemic rules. They rollick through the “Janey Needs a Shooter” and the Dylanesque “Song for Orphans”, both of which Springsteen wrote back in 1973. But it’s the new material that really catches fire. The band blaze through “Ghosts” and “Last Man Standing”, with “House of a Thousand Guitars” soaring above the lot. Driven by the supple rise and fall of a hymnal piano melody, the song is a commentary on songwriting. Springsteen, who’s been wonderfully frank about his lifelong struggle with depression, expresses solidarity with other writers “bitter and bored” who “wake in search of the lost chord”. As the champion of the working Americans who’ve been sold out by the Trump presidency, he delivers a verse on “the criminal clown” who has “stolen the throne”. But he offers the communion of music as a way to rise above and beyond material misery.'

Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways: '“I sing the songs of experience like William Blake,” Bob Dylan growls, introducing his 39th epistle on the follies, frustrations and secret strengths of a species at war with itself, “I’ve got no apologies to make.” He’s the rebel poet, approaching twilight, laying out generations of hard-earned wisdoms with no punches pulled and no regrets. At 79, following a trio of covers albums of American standards largely associated with Sinatra, you might expect Dylan to make a world-worn and contemplative sort of record, but one that had little left to say. Instead, with ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways’, he’s produced arguably his grandest poetic statement yet, a sweeping panorama of culture, history and philosophy peering back through assassinations, world wars, the births of nations, crusades and Biblical myths in order to plot his place in the great eternal scheme. Rough? Perhaps, but it certainly has the warmth and lustre of the intimate and home-made. And rowdy? Dylan’s sure been rowdier ... Instead he requires of his band just a series of soft and simple canvasses, woven largely from gentle spiritual, lustrous country, Southern blues or gothic Americana – often resembling enclosed, traditionally structured atmospheres rather than songs – onto which he can project his sprawling literary visions of death, degradation and the horrors of history.'

Deacon Blue - City Of Love: 'They continue to conjure anthems that celebrate love, work, faith, hope, going out, and coming home ... we find Ricky Ross writing from a more personal – and maybe more vulnerable – viewpoint than before. City of Love seeks out the quiet moments, far from the bombast. From the solace of shared candle-light (the glorious, Fleetwood Mac-invoking 'In Our Room') to the solitude of nature (the gospel-rock of 'A Walk In The Woods'), it is poignant, pensive, yet never maudlin. If 'Intervals' stunning, astral pop reminds us of the ticking clock ('so little time'), then the swoon-inducing soul of 'Come On In' urges us to make the most of our days, and nights.'

Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension: Stevens 'felt inspired to create a whole record that examined the world he was living in, questioning it when it felt wrong and “exterminating all bullshit“. The sprawling results of this personal interrogation, which play out over a glitchy 80 minutes, serve as a powerful dissection of modern humanity. Filled with universal anguish and anxieties, ‘The Ascension’ ... takes a weary look at the outside world and out comes a deep sigh ... anxious instrumentals echo the album’s uneasy outlook and fear of the future, and when they combine forces it often makes for an astonishing listen. The world is pretty shitty at the moment and it’s easy to feel helpless, but as the horror show that is 2020 continues to rumble on, ‘The Ascension’ is yet another ample soundtrack to rage-dance to.'

Gregory Porter - All Rise: 'It’s not all just about that great voice. Gregory Porter also has a mighty generosity of spirit, plus empathy, warmth and optimism. And he has gathered a superb team around him to make a strong album with plenty of scale and depth ... All these contributions weave around Porter himself and strengthen what he does. The singer has written of “Revival Song”, written in memory of Freddie Gray, the 25-year old who died in police custody in Baliimore in 2015: “It’s about finding your source of strength to bring you back to seeing who you truly are so that you can be restored to the giant that you are.” That is what Gregory Porter, with help from some fine musicians has achieved with All Rise in 2020.'

Michael McDermott - What In The World: 'Chicago born McDermott’s poetic reflections on the parlous predicament of American politics and humanity in general always repay closer investigation, and “What in the World..” must rank as his most compelling offering to date. The Dylanesque title track points an accusing finger at the inhumanities perpetrated by the Trump regime via a tumbling flood of memorable lyrical images, contrasting beautifully with the much more low key charms of “Positively Central Park” and “New York,Texas,” a subdued gem strongly reminiscent of “Nebraska” era Springsteen at his brilliant best.'

Scott Stapp - The Space Between the Shadows: 'This album is powerful, it is beautiful and I can guarantee that every person reading this will be able to relate to the lyrical content throughout…we have all fought our demons to one extent or another but Scott has laid his soul bare and I am sure he is a very different man from the one prior to writing and recording The Space Between the Shadows. The album title tells a story of its own and although this is as dark as hell it is also full of light, hope and redemption. Scott Stapp is back and I lay odds he is better, stronger and much wiser than before.'

Bill Fay - Countless Branches - 'Countless Branches is the third of Fay's later-period albums, following Life Is People (2012) and Who Is the Sender? (2015). It might just be the best, too. It's palatable and concise, comprising ten tracks with bonuses pushing the total to 17. An incorrigible grouch might bridle at these guileless, gently philosophical songs, but they're delivered with such obvious sincerity that the rest of us will be charmed. As ever, Fay focuses on the search for meaning and substance in everyday life.'

Buddy & Judy Miller - 'Breakdown on 20th Avenue South': '... out of the ashes of loss, abandonment and melancholy, the songwriter has emerged like a phoenix for the sizzling Breakdown on 20th Ave. South (New West Records), the couple’s first duet record since 2009’s Written in Chalk. As much a testament to faith and forgiveness as it is a pulsating chronicle of a marriage beset by physical and emotional challenges, the album, which takes its name from the Music Row-adjacent street on which the couple resides in Nashville, ranks among the year’s finest.' 

The Innocence Misson - 'See You Tomorrow': Don Peris says, “There is a longing there to be transformed and a hopeful expectation that it is possible,” he explains. “I find joy, or a similar type of joy, in all of the songs,” he concludes. “A humble recognition of challenges and hardships, the acknowledgment and comfort in knowing that they are both personal and universal, and the expression of light and hope.” 'Focusing on the world that exists within our own heartbeats, The Innocence Mission has created a disc that finds truth in the connections binding us to each other. See You Tomorrow radiates a sense of love and warmth to help us through moments when those same commodities may be in short supply.'

My previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

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Bill Fay - Filled With Wonder Once Again.

The 10 albums that I enjoyed most in 2014

Here are the 10 albums (in no particular order) that I've got hold of and enjoyed the most in 2014:

Popular Problems by Leonard Cohen is his best since The Future and, as with that album, deals both explicitly and ambiguously with religious imagery and spiritual reflection: 'Word of Words / And Measure of all Measures / Blessed is the Name / The Name be blessed / Written on my heart / In burning Letters / That's all I know / I cannot read the rest.' ('Born in Chains')

Ricky Ross is in a rich vein of inspiration with The Hipsters in 2012 quickly followed by solo album Trouble Came Looking in 2013 and now A New House. Deacon Blue's best album since under-appreciated classic Whatever You Say, Say Nothing, both albums featuring songs centred on Bethlehem: 'I long to be there / As bright as the sky / At Bethlehem's gate' ('Bethlehem's Gate') and 'You got to go back, gotta go back, gotta go back in time / To Bethlehem / To begin again.' ('Bethlehem begins').

Robert Plant's Lullaby ... and the Ceaseless Roar is a wonderfully original melting pot of blues, country, indie and world influences. Somebody There explores a sense of the sublime: 'When I was a young boy / And time was passing by / Real slow / And all around was wonder / And all around the great unknown / With eyes that slowly opened / I set about the wisdom to know / And living out of language / Before one word I spoke / I heard the call / There is somebody there I know.'

Neil McCormick's initial reaction to U2's Songs of Innocence to me seems fairly accurate: 'I wouldn’t put it on a par with their greatest work - Boy, Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby or even the seamless songs of All That You Can’t Leave Behind ... But ... it certainly does the job it apparently sets out to do, delivering addictive pop rock with hooks, energy, substance and ideas that linger in the mind after you’ve heard them.' 'It is, at heart, a highly personal set of songs' with 'no flag waving anthems, no big social causes.' If there is a moral, he suggests, 'it appears in the coda of Cedarwood Road: “a heart that is broken / is a heart that is open.”'

Dry The River have been described as 'folky gospel music played by a post-punk band' (BBC). Their second album, Alarms in the Heart: 'is bold, expansive, confident and cohesive - an undeniable step up in both diversity and volume from their critically acclaimed debut, Shallow Bed (March 2012). Gethsemane, uncovers the spiritual heart of the record, delivering a Buckley-esque narrative: "Excavating down you'd find the drowning and the drowned /And then there's us, babe."' (Rough Trade)

The first Shovels & Rope album, O’ Be Joyful, is 'a delightful combination of knee-slapping, bordering-on-gospel folk tracks and bluesy guitar-driven rock' (Filter). Husband and wife team, Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst, both have solo careers, while Trent is also lead singer of The Films. Together they make: 'Thrilling music rooted in old country with touches of blues and gospel, that can’t help but remind you of Jack and Meg and Johnny and June.' (The Pabst)

The Guardian had an excellent article about the wonderful reissued album Dylan's Gospel: "Conceived by record producer Lou Adler, who admired backing singers so much that he sometimes paid them triple scale, it features 27 vocalists, including [Merry] Clayton, Clydie King, Patrice Holloway, Gloria Jones and Edna Wright, injecting the likes of Chimes of Freedom and Lay Lady Lay with Baptist gusto. It's a righteous, inspiring, beautiful piece of work."

'There are many factors contributing to the uplifting feel of “The Flood and the Mercy,” the second solo effort from ex-Live frontman Ed Kowalczyk. There’s the gently jangling production of Jamie Candiloro; the singer’s spiritual lyrics, rooted in his Christian faith and a synthesis of other beliefs; and the appearance of vocalist Rachael Yamagata and R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck on three tracks: “Supernatural Fire,” “All That I Wanted” and “Holy Water Tears.” (SF Examiner)

'Scott Stapp’s Proof of Life is a poignant snapshot of the artist, showcasing his journey over the past several years. It doesn’t shy away from encountering the dark places that he’s wandered into, acknowledging those missteps nor does it neglect highlighting the faith-filled elements that have helped to draw the artist back into the light. Proof of Life is an insightful and honest record, capturing Stapp at his best lyrically and musically, proving to be a great listen.' (soul-audio)

Linda Perhacs, says Sufjan Stevens, who released The Soul Of All Natural Things on his Asthmatic Kitty label, “has a prophetic voice that speaks beauty and truth with the kind of confidence and hope that has been lost for decades. There is nothing more real in music today.”

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The Brothers & Sisters - I Shall Be Released.

East London Three Faiths Forum Tour of the Holy Land: Day 2

Here is a meditation which I wrote while preparing for the East London Three Faiths Forum Tour of the Holy Land. The starting point for the meditation was the title of a song on the latest album by Deacon Blue:

Bethlehem begins.
Here, human hands hold God for the first time.
Here, God is fed from a human breast for the first time.
Here, God is struck on the back,
takes his first breath, utters his first cry.
Here, heaven and earth are rejoined.
Here, humanity is taken into the Godhead.
Here, God becomes vulnerable.
Here, God experiences created life.
Here, God enters his creation.
Here, God moves into our neighbourhood,
Becomes one with human beings.

In a place of forced migration,
Where no room could be found
For a pregnant woman
whose baby was not the child of her betrothed,
In less than ideal circumstances
Here begins peace on earth
Goodwill to all.
Salvation is birthed and named
The King of the Jews is sought and found,
The Messiah is recognised and praised.

Here the dividing wall
Between Jew and Gentile,
Male and female, slave and free,
Begins to be removed.
Here begins salvation, redemption,
Restoration for one and all.
Reconciliation between
the human and divine.

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Deacon Blue - Bethlehem Begins.

Pop's holy rollers

The Guardian has an article today on Pop's holy rollers which links Steve Arrington's retrospective‬ Double CD Way Out (80-84), Sheila E's autobiography The Beat of my Own Drum, and Chuck D's The Black in Man. Angus Batey writes that 'Many acts – from Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis to Marvin Gaye, Prince, Madonna and U2 – have struggled to reconcile the sacred with the profane in their art.' He suggests that if 'the musicians-turned-pastors (the likes of Arrington, Little Richard or Al Green) are the most head-turning examples of artists trying to accommodate their faith,' there are others like Sheila E for whom the process is less dramatic.

September has actually been a great month for new albums which explore spiritual themes with excellent new releases by Leonard Cohen, Deacon Blue, Robert Plant and U2.

Popular Problems by Cohen is his best since The Future and, as with that album, deals both explicitly and ambiguously with religious imagery and spiritual reflection: 'Word of Words / And Measure of all Measures / Blessed is the Name / The Name be blessed / Written on my heart / In burning Letters / That's all I know / I cannot read the rest.' ('Born in Chains')

Ricky Ross is in a rich vein of inspiration with The Hipsters in 2012 quickly followed by solo album Trouble Came Looking in 2013 and now A New House. Deacon Blue's best album since under-appreciated classic Whatever You Say, Say Nothing, both albums featuring songs centred on Bethlehem: 'I long to be there / As bright as the sky / At Bethlehem's gate' ('Bethlehem's Gate') and 'You got to go back, gotta go back, gotta go back in time / To Bethlehem / To begin again.' ('Bethlehem begins').

Robert Plant's Lullaby ... and the Ceaseless Roar is a wonderfully original melting pot of blues, country, indie and world influences. Somebody There explores a sense of the sublime: 'When I was a young boy / And time was passing by / Real slow / And all around was wonder / And all around the great unknown / With eyes that slowly opened / I set about the wisdom to know / And living out of language / Before one word I spoke / I heard the call / There is somebody there I know.'

Neil McCormick's initial reaction to U2's Songs of Innocence to me seems fairly accurate: 'I wouldn’t put it on a par with their greatest work - Boy, Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby or even the seamless songs of All That You Can’t Leave Behind ... But ... it certainly does the job it apparently sets out to do, delivering addictive pop rock with hooks, energy, substance and ideas that linger in the mind after you’ve heard them.' 'It is, at heart, a highly personal set of songs' with 'no flag waving anthems, no big social causes.' If there is a moral, he suggests, 'it appears in the coda of Cedarwood Road: “a heart that is broken / is a heart that is open.”'

More on some of these artists and the interplay between faith and music can be found in my co-authored book, The Secret Chord.

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Leonard Cohen - Born In Chains.

New music

Here are some new albums that I'm looking forward to hearing:

Babel - Mumford & Sons: 'Opening with a blistering banjo intro, the title track is a statement of intent. Marcus Mumford spits, "I know my weakness, know my voice. And I believe in grace and choice'". As the chorus hits, the biblical allusions that inspired the album title kick in.' (NME)

Life Is People - Bill Fay: 'Aside from Fay's plaintive cover of Wilco's Jesus Etc, Life Is People also continues with the lyrical themes established back in 1969-70 ... "They need space to convey," he stresses, "but, in a simple way, biblical prophecy. Not in some extreme or fanatical way but fundamentally, that this world - in the hands of different leaders, competing with each other economically - it can't carry on. It's belief in a change. There's comfort in that. I'm not so sure how you could handle the world if you didn't have that. It's God's world, yet we walk around as if it's ours."' (Mojo)

Tempest - Bob Dylan: 'When Dylan convened his band at Jackson Browne's Groove Masters studios in Santa Monica, he's said it was his intention to make a 'religious' album ... The testing of belief in extreme circumstances is a recurring theme ... the charred landscape that much of Tempest occupies ... a forlorn sort of place, populated by the displaced and the lost, to who Dylan gives poignant voice.' (Uncut)

The Laughing Stalk - Woven Hand: 'The myths of our country are in the songs. The untold stories and gaps in history books are in the songs – our recollection is preserved in this music. Those songs as well as the stories that my parents told me, the bible and the books I read, all this is the foundation of my imagination of America. But I do not see myself as a keeper of tradition. I rather am a craftsman who on a daily basis does what he does best: singing and playing guitar. That’s the only thing I've learned. I am following the music.' (David Eugene Edwards)

The Hipsters - Deacon Blue: 'Judging by the content of this album, which contains such portions of well-bred pop as Stars and the harmony-laden Turn, there's enough creativity left to ensure that few hearing these songs for the first time on the band's 25th Anniversary Tour will be disappointed.' (Mojo)

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Bill Fay - Time Of The Last Persecution.