Like many, I’ve been wondering about how the future of ‘worship music’ will sound in our churches over the next few decades. At home in CCK we’re trying to be more diverse and explore more sounds, textures and arrangements (last Sunday I lead with a string quartet, in 2 weeks I’m leading with 8 drummers…), but it seems obvious to me we need to catch up with the digital music world.

Dubstep. I love it. And I would love to write some dubstep songs for CCK to sing, but I’ve never seen anyone pull it off live… UNTIL NOW. This genuinely feels quite significant for me. It’s like… someone’s set the bar… now who’s up for the challenge?

I think this is amazing. What do you think?

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There’s very little doubt that Forerunner’s EP ‘Hold Your Fire’ is pushing out the boat. Having been born and raised in the musical metropolis of Brighton, the quintet have spent their lives being surrounded by a broad and varied music scene, an upbringing that is clearly reflected in their debut project.

Kicking off with the slow building ‘I Need You’ , the scene is adequately set for the EP. With Earthy acoustic guitars strumming from left right and centre, Pete Coggan’s somewhat ethereal vocals are pushed up above the rest of the mix, helping to establish an intentional sense of emptiness when the guitars drop out and all that is left is bass, a touch of drums and voice .This is met with stark contrast when the chorus kicks in and sweeps the listener off their unsuspecting feet with an ‘all guns blazing’ chord progression that sees the song through to a satisfying end.

Dynamics play an important role in cultivating Forerunner’s sound and sense of style, something that is demonstrated in the title track that comes in at number two on the set list. Comprised of a dirty, memorable guitar lick that makes frequent appearances throughout the song, a strong combo of melody and lyrics and a great range of thick and thin textures, ‘Hold Your Fire’ has all the makings of a signature song that the group are remembered by. Their ability to complement each other as a band is really brought to light in this song, with Sam Liddiard’s bass lines never conflicting with Jotham Oakley’s beats, and Pete Coggan’s vocals riding perfectly over the top of the organised chaos that is that of Forerunner’s instrumental side.

Other memorable tracks on the album include ‘Save Our Souls’, a ‘Mutemath’esque epic with droning electric guitars and intricately technical drums, and ‘Fly’, a comparatively subtle, piano based piece who’s lyrics (the repetitive use of the phrase ‘fly away’) might be slightly better suited to an easy jet advert. However, what ‘fly away’ lacks in lyrical content, is made up for in beautiful simplicity. Both of these tracks are positively oozing with Forerunner’s original sense of style.

Despite what the name might suggest, Forerunner’s EP really doesn’t hold it’s fire, and that is meant with every positive connotation. By choosing to opt out of the ‘I can’t believe it’s not a Sunday’ vibe that has become very prominent in many of today’s worship albums, forerunner have established themselves as a band that not only hold lyrical content in high regard, but strive for a quality of arrangement and dynamic prowess that both pleases the ear and begs it to take a second listen. It would be wise to keep an eye out for future projects from this quizzically, quirky quartet.

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Lots of people have been asking for the music to some of the Newday songs we’ve done this year. Here is the music to two of the songs, My Soul Is Well and The Third Day

My Soul Is Well

The Third Day

They’re .zip files containing three pdf files. Both these songs will be on the new Newday album coming out soon…

Well, it’s that time of the year where we up-the-game as a band, and take a quite few evenings out to rehearse rehearse rehearse like crazy as we’re leading worship quite a lot at events this summer, some of which will have albums produced from them… Together On A Mission, Mobilise, Newday, Rendevouz Bible Week France, CCK.

Some of us have been playing together as a band for the last 10 years, whilst the others have joined at some point over this last decade. Over that time we’ve learned a whole lot about what actually makes an effective, fruitful rehearsal… and what makes a frustrating, draining and fruitless one.

So over the next few days and weeks, I’ll try and organise my thoughts on this and get some succinct posts up answering the question ‘What makes an effective rehearsal?’ But in the meantime, here’s a little video of our rehearsal from last night..