Digital Editor’s Note: I’m excited and proud to welcome Rob Allwright as a Guest Writer here at the Sorted Magazine website. Rob brings a wealth of experience and is one of the most respected Christian reviewers in the UK. The energy Rob devotes to supporting and encouraging Christian creatives is staggering. His review show One Man In The Middle is broadcast by Branch FM, Heartsong Live and Hope FM. And I’m just a teensy bit excited that he has joined the wonderful peeps at the Manchester based broadcaster Konnect Radio!
Rob writes: Over the years Matt Maher has released a number of Christmas singles, but this album is his first collection of Christmas songs, this album isn’t just about Christmas itself though, it’s about the build-up, the anticipation and the message of hope that is prevalent through this time. The album itself is made up of a few familiar festive songs, and many more original songs to bring us to a total of 13 tracks in all.
The album starts off with Gabriel’s Message which is a surprisingly traditional track for this collection. It’s not a Christmas carol that I am terribly familiar with, but I have heard it sung by the traditional Anglican choirs. This sets out the beginning of the Christmas story as Gabriel brings God’s message to Mary which is as good a place to start in thinking about advent. Matt keeps a fairly traditional feel to this track with a choral emphasis on the Gloria refrain. Matt follows this up with a version of He Shall Reign Forevermore which Matt wrote with Chris Tomlin, previously featured on Tomlin’s 2015 Adore album. Both of these tracks work well with Maher’s vocals with some great emphasis put behind parts of the verses bringing these to life. These first few tracks are on the serious side of Christmas considering what the Jesus’ birth means for us and for humanity. Born On This Day is the third of these as it considers the meaning of Emmanuel as God with us and how Christmas paves the way for our forgiveness and salvation through Jesus.
Next there is a slight change as we get that song that is so full of Christmas meaning, Jingle Bells. It’s got a bit of a Jazzy feel to this version, it’s not quite Bing Crosby but it’s quite enjoyable none the less. Another well known carol is up next with the gentle track of The First Noel, this version does have an additional chorus which doesn’t really add much to the original, but it works reasonably well. The main focus for this track is the vocal, backed for the most part of the song by just a piano, Matt carries this song well. Then we are into one of the key tracks on this album which is Hope For Everyone and it expresses just that in an upbeat style. Advent is about hope, Jesus’ incarnation offers something new, from the Angel’s declaring the birth, the wise men seeing the sign in the sky and for everyone waiting for the promise of a saviour amongst men. Don’t let the chorus catch you out on this track as the first couple of lines seem to be sung in isolation with no music or other sounds between them making you wonder for a split second if something has paused the playback.
Glory (Let There Be Peace) could almost be sung in church at any point. Other than the references to Emmanuel and the Angel’s song it doesn’t really sound like much of a Christmas song. Of course the next track O Come, O Come Emmanuel is incredibly Christmassy and Maher has done a great job of breaking this out from the Christmas hymn that can at times be quite slow into a very upbeat and joyful song. He has even managed to insert sleigh bells into the recording which works really well. There is just one guest vocal on this album that is credited and that is found in Always Carry You. It’s by none other than Amy Grant who brings a great vocal to this track which blends really well with Maher’s voice. The issue I have with this song is that it doesn’t really make a huge amount of sense to the listener, well not to this listener anyway. Perhaps its about Mary carrying Jesus and holding these things in her heart, but I am not totally convinced! Love Came Down To Bethlehem is another co-write, this time with Jon Guerra. This track sounds like a traditional Christmas Carol and certainly seems to borrow some phrases from other places making this seem more familiar than it actually is.
Moving the style more towards a folk sound it seems that Matt has taken a page out of Rend Collective’s book for the very upbeat Hark The Herald Angels Sing which features an Irish whistle and flute along with the acoustic guitars. It is at this point that it seems Matt has allowed himself to let his hair down a little and Little Merry Christmas is much more a tongue-in-cheek look at the trappings that go with Christmas. Trees, twinkly lights and hopefully silent nights if the kids go to sleep, of course the theme is that being with the one that you love at Christmas is the best thing that can happen. The last song also fits with a different aspect of Christmas, reminding us to spend it well and remember those that are no longer here to celebrate it with us. There are memories to be made and a hope to remember as Matt wishes us a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Matt has done well to incorporate many aspects of the season of advent into this album. He’s definitely kept the message of the hope that Jesus Christ is for the world through many of these tracks but also the joy of the time of year. There are some songs that don’t work as well as others, but it seems that Matt has had a lot of fun to re-imagine some of the traditional and well known songs. I love the way that he brings a swing flavour to Jingle Bells and although it’s been done before it still sounds great. I really liked the version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing as well. Of the original tracks there are a number that work well, but a couple that just didn’t quite work for me. It’s my first Christmas album for the year so I have enjoyed this selection, but there are definitely tracks that wouldn’t make it onto my Christmas playlist!
The Advent of Christmas – Matt Maher| Free Delivery at Eden.co.uk
Main Photo Credit: Ebeuen Clemente via Unsplash
