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: If you have never come across the husband and wife duo Salt of the Sound then this is a great EP to introduce to you. They have a wonderful way with working with a song to make it feel like an incredibly personal experience and use ambient and atmospheric qualities to open up the soundscape beyond the room around you. This EP is a few years old and their sound has continued to develop since then, but there are still many of those qualities in this release along with some familiar tunes and the beautifully haunting vocal from Anita.
The first track is the familiar O Come, O Come Emmanuel which is a great opener because it is nice and familiar, you can compare it to other versions of the song and decide if this is something that you like. For me, I love it. It’s one of those tracks that you never really want to end! Sadly it ends all too quickly at just one minute and 37 seconds, but then we are into the original compositions. The first of these is a different look at the idea of Christ being the light of the world as Shine So Bright describes a room with no windows or doors, until Christ comes like a candle into that room pushing away the darkness, and the song concludes with us reflecting Jesus to the world around us. This is all set against a percussive background of musical twinkling and the atmospheric vocals. White Forests is an understated track which whispers in the background talking about Yule as the name for Christmas as the sense of longing for hope and peace.
The music and the effects aren’t just background in Salt of the Sounds tracks, they tell the story in their own right, even in those tracks that have lyrics the music is given space to be explored, but it comes into it’s own when there is a full instrumental track. From Afar is one of these that takes you on a journey that it yours to interpret, whatever you make of it, it’s a beautiful trip! The title track Waiting for the Dawn uses the familiar words Silent Night, Holy Night with a different harmony to open up the world waiting for the Saviour to be born. It talks about a lonely and weary world but the dawn brings a new hope to those who are waiting for the dawn. The repeated name of Emmanuel and a recap of the idea of a weary world then leads into the final track which is their own take on the chorus of O Come Let Us Adore Him but with a subtitle of The Day Has Dawned which leads us from the night of the shining star and those waiting, to a call to worship Christ as the promised hope and Saviour now that the daylight has come again!
This brings a whole reflective journey to the Christmas celebrations and I have had the pleasure of setting aside some time to listen to this for personal meditation and it really is a beautiful and ambient sound that allows for this. It sits in the back of the consciousness providing a little direction as you dwell upon Christmas. It also makes excellent background music that can just wash over your soul. For a few pounds this EP is available to add to your collection you can thank me later, once you have thoroughly chilled out, which is normally badly needed through the weeks of advent!
Main Photo Credit: Simon Wilkes via Unsplash
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