2001

Track List | Song By Song | News Items | Lyrics

Track List

1. Creator (4:17)
2. At the Cross (3:51)
3. Glory (4:10)
4. Head over Heels (3:43)
5. I Love You (3:11)
6. Rain (5:00)
7. Praise (4:22)
8. Carry Me (4:37)
9. Joy (3:43)
10. Shelter (5:11)

Song by Song

Creator
The most ‘pop’ and keyboard based track on the album. It has overtones of anew musical direction and reflects the attitude of future writing. The track has a great vibe and is a real grower with all the kicking power of the Dez & Danny rhythm section and with my guitar limited to one track - I know it’s sacrilege!! It’s Gav who’s really excels himself on this one. This opening song ­ like most of the album - speaks of the need for forgiveness and the promise that - if we open ourselves up honestly - God will provide the ‘washing down’ mentioned. We’re looking forward to playing this live!

At the Cross
A song that answers the questions that it raises “can I call you my friend?” The good news here is that - through the cross - we can call God our friend and he will release us and set us free. Musically we’ve gone for a cool scooby vibe just played as we do. There are lots of surprises for the listener, it’s a bit of a roller coaster.

Glory
There are songs that will be in the church for years because they’re classics. I see this as a modern ‘I give You all the honour’ although you may need to use your imagination to get this. I hope that I’ve managed to write a contemporary song that would sound great on radio 1 but gives Jesus all the glory. If we’re going to grow the church we need to look this way. It’s my favourite track ­ it’s a song I’d buy and play to death!

Head over Heels
This rocks! Big drums, big bass, even bigger guitars, distorted vocals and no keyboards! Imagine Stereophonics or Blink182 singing a worship song. Noel Richards popped into the studio the day I was recording the guitars and left with a very big grin on his face. Lyrically it still speaks of my amazement that God would put himself through the suffering He did for me ­ and for each one of us. One of the lines says ‘You even took the sin of those who nailed You’ and I don’t know whether I would have been there egging them on to crucify him or not ­ but does anyone?

I Love You
I spend hours writing songs, and some come quickly and some very slowly. This happened so quickly that I underestimated its power ­ until I used it leading worship at church and the place exploded! The hidden power in this song was confirmed when I played it at rehearsal with the boys, and they ended up on their faces! The recording is true to the day it was written, just me and a guitar, sat on the floor in the studio late at night. I hope that people take this song into church, it’s easy to play with a capo on 5, and I hope that it helps people meet with God.

Rain
Neil Costello is a genius, he helped us get so many cool sounds. The keyboards are amazing and guitars massive. When the recording of the song was almost finished we listened to a rough mix - and I cried. It wasn’t just because the song reached its potential, somehow it seemed to have caught an anointing that only God can bring. The song tells how we make plans for our lives that we hope will lead to greatness - like being a millionaire or something. But these empty hopes can be replaced with something of much greater value - that leads to a different kind of greatness altogether. Non - Christians will be able to empathise with the content of this track and hopefully feel the presence.

Praise
Already established as a recent live favourite, we’ve really improved the overall sound of the track so that’s it’s a veritable delight to the ear - getting carried away now!! Gav’s thematic parts are so quirky. I’ve changed guitar style on this one - Danny’s bass is very cool ­ and as usual Dez is rocking out behind us - making this a really big bright up track, definitely one that people will sing.

Carry Me
Another song about me being rubbish and needing God’s grace yet again. I think the closer you get to Him, the more your own failings are shown to you. At least I hope that’s what it is ‘cos I should be grown up by now. Although it’s by grace - through faith - that we’re saved, we can’t feed ourselves on milk, we need to be weaned onto the more substantial things that he has for us. This is what makes our walk with God so interesting, challenging and sometimes seemingly impossible. But graciously he does give us the strength to succeed.

Joy
Another song already well established live and we’ve left the recording fairly true to that vibe. I love to see people sing the ‘tongue twister’ verse the first time through and nail it by the second. It’s got my favourite drum fill and the song declares what God has done for us, so hey lets get excited and celebrate the fact with some jumping and dancing!

Shelter
The last track, and it’s honest and probably readily identifiable to all. I’m sure that most of us have this little part of our lives that we keep hidden away, and visit from time to time. It’s the part that is known only to ourselves and God, and is the non-public dark bit that we fight with. But He understands what we go through more than anyone ­ He meets us there and he can help us to beat it. This is really a deeply intimate worship song because it takes guts to admit these things, and guts to do something about it. The end sections lift you and fill you with hope ­ they show that the increase in faith and God’s power that we long for - is available - and thank him for giving us shelter.

News Items

• Cross Rhythms Review

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