Beating Time
WORLD SERVICE (CD)
By Delirious?
Furious? Records
The BBC World Service. I appreciate its existence, and the important part it plays in the lives of many people. But when I am tuning in my radio station presets, it isn't among them.
I could easily have said a similar thing about Delirious?. They have penned some worship classics. Some people absolutely love them. I'm proud of their a) being Christians and b) being British. But, of the Christian music CDs I am most happy to lend out to my brothers and sisters in the Lord and never see again, my Delirious? albs would be the prime candidates.
But, after the retrospectives and live CDs, DVDs and tours, Delirious? have finally been back into the studio to produce World Service, their seventh proper album. Even to me that's an exciting prospect. Would it scale the heights of King of Fools? Would it plumb the depths of Audio Lessonover?
Unfortunately, the first few listens confirmed my apathy towards the band. The songs seemed to be without hooks; the production, a U2-esque garden of unnecessary noise. And as Alicia Silverstone once said about Radiohead, 'wah, wah, wah'.
But three days into listening to it, I texted my friend: 'The Delirious? album has grown - I have recognised and enjoyed two tracks in a row!' This is an album that creeps up on you. One moment it's soulless-noise, next it's a well-produced, compelling album that you want to take seriously. One listen you are thinking 'what?'; the next you are praising the Lord for his grace, for his help in our lives, singing about being saved, with Martin, with joy. Standout tracks for me at the moment are the joyful, sing-a-long (I can hardly believe it!) 'Everyone Knows', the emotionally charged, muse-tinged, 'Mountains High', and the beautiful 'Majesty (here I am).
And if you like U2, you'll like it even more than I do.
Carruthers
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