Steven Curtis Chapman returns with his new album re:creation. The new album features 5 new songs from Steven including the first single “Do Everything”, and all-new recordings of his 8 biggest hits. The entire album has a progressive and fresh acoustic sound, which reflects the energy and life found in the songs. The title speaks to the actual re:creation of these songs, which are re-imagined and re-recorded in a new musical space. More and most importantly though, the word re:creation speaks to the new life God is creating... re-creating... for Steven and his family as they walk forward in their lives.
“I wrote the song “Do Everything” really to remind myself and also to encourage others that everything matters; everything we do can be done as an act of worship,” says Steven. “I Corinthians 10 says, “Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.” There’s this tendency it seems to think of life with this line drawn down the middle where there’s the spiritual stuff on one side and then just the stuff of life on the other. Really though, I think God wants us to remember, and I’m trying to learn, that whether it’s walking the dog, washing the dishes, taking out the trash... to the really big spiritual moments, that all of that can be done as an act of worship and everything can be done to bring glory to the God who made us for that very purpose.”
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Steven Curtis Chapman [re:Creation]| Posted September 06, 2011
On Steven Curtis Chapman’s 17th album, re:Creation, he serves up six new songs, including the debut hit single, “Do Everything” and breathes new life into some of his most memorable and popular songs with re-imagined approaches and all new recordings. More than 3 years have passed since the Chapmans’ horrific loss when on May 21, 2008, Steven’s youngest daughter, Maria, was killed in a tragic accident. Since then Steven has sensed people waiting to see how he and his family were faring in the wake of the tragedy and what the next step in his musical evolution would be. I’ve been listening to Steven’s songs for the past twenty years and Steven’s 46th number one song “Do Everything” really reminds me of some of his previous hit songs “The Great Adventure,” “Dive” and “Live Out Loud,” which all appear as new “re:Creations” on this album.
“Do Everything” is a fun, upbeat song based on 1 Corinthians 10:31—“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” The song includes some of most enjoyable and fun rhymes I’ve heard including “You may be hooking up mergers, Cooking up burgers” and “Maybe you’re a down and out rock star, Or feeding orphans in the Myanmar.” I really enjoy the joyfulness of “Do Everything.” I can relate to the lyrics, and this song relates to every listener in some way. We all need encouragement and we all need to be built up and remember that whatever we do, do everything for the Glory of God. Amen to that! The song is a great return to Steven’s past fun style song, which is mostly what’s included on this album. A couple of exceptions include the next song “Long Way Home,” which for me is the highlight of the album, and Steven’s vocals and ukulele are so engaging. The song lays out Steven’s story with the gut-wrenching lyrics—“I had no way of knowing just how hard this journey could be, 'Cause the valleys are deeper and the mountains are steeper than I ever would've dreamed, But I know we're gonna make it." The song reminds us that “we’re pilgrims and He’s gonna lead us home every single step of this long way home.” Great song and message.
Personally, I wasn’t saved until I was 28 years old in 1999, and my wife and I got baptized together in 2001 at a local lake with our church congregation. When we did, we wrote out the entire lyrics of Steven’s song “Dive” in our scrapbook. That was our story and Steven had put our story into a song that we could give as our testimony to our friends and relatives. At the time, we had one baby girl, and now we have three girls. We preserved our handwritten lyrics as a witness to our story being told in his great song. I’ve always connected with Steven as a father and as a fellow believer over the years. Possibly the most moving moments of the album are the last tracks, where Steven covers “Morning Has Broken” with his son Caleb and closes with a worship chorus, “Sing Hallelujah.”
CLOSING THOUGHTS
If you’ve always enjoyed Steven’s past work and want to hear a return to his fun and uplifting songs re-recorded in a contemporary and laid-back style, then you’ll want to experience re:Creation, which is both enjoyable and moving. For sure, “Do Everything” is a song of the year candidate and is a great new song. “Long Way Home” is a sobering reminder that we’re not made for this world and includes my favorite vocal performance of Steven’s career which should also generate a well-deserved male vocalist nomination. This album truly allows listeners to treasure Christian music’s most honored male artist. Re:Creation is my inspirational album of the year.
Brings Back Memories| Posted August 11, 2011
Growing up in a Christian home, my parents were always listening to DC Talk and Steven Curtis Chapman, so naturally I have always liked groups like them. As i have gotten older my style has changed to the more contemporary rock side with bands like Skillet, Pillar, and Red. Listening to his knew album really made me fall in love with all of the classics all over again, not to mention the new songs that have powerful lyrics. This is a great album.
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