Canopy Red Review | Posted June 14, 2012
While Canopy Red may not be a name you’re familiar with yet, it won’t be long before the entire CCM community is singing their praises. Composed of three fresh faced young men from Tallahassee, FL named Ryan Harvell, Forrest Krazit, and Joshua Schmidt, the band’s sole mission is to reach this generation with the Gospel through music.
Although they’ve been together for several years now, the band hit it big in 2011 when their first single “Here To Stay,” peaked at #21 on Billboard’s Christian Rock chart. It was through that enormous feat, that the guys made a connection with producer Rusty Varenkamp (Michael W. Smith, Sanctus Real, Tenth Avenue North) and hoped to co-write a few songs together. Those few songs however, soon turned into an entire album.
“Rusty is a genius at coming up with melodies” the group says of the partnership. “He was very reassuring in not only the musical direction of our band, but our lifelong calling as well.”
Wake Up, Canopy Red’s full length debut project, is chalk full songs that encourage believers to live a life far from normal. To stop compartmentalizing Christianity as a Sunday morning chore, and start allowing our faith to shape every area of our lives.
“Wasting Time” starts this musical journey off on a bold note. Confronting the issue of lackadaisical faith, the soaring melodies fit perfectly with the lyrical challenge of living our lives to the fullest. “Disguise” follows along the same lines lyrically, it being more blunt about the masks we wear to try and hide our faith for acceptance sake.
The album changes pace a bit with the worshipful “Forever,” and delves right back into the meatier matters of faith with “Sink Or Swim,” about the battle to keep following Christ even when distractions that would lead us astray call our name.
“Paralyzed” picks up the pace is the strongest song on the album from a lyrical standpoint. The album’s namesake, “Wake Up” provides much of the same, only this time, boasting the strongest song musically. I can see this song gaining the group some heavy momentum if ever released as a single.
“He Won’t Let Go” again meshes perfect alternative rock styling’s with heartfelt lyrics, talking about holding on to God during the storms of life. This will definitely go down as a fan favorite, especially for those struggling with doubt in their faith.
The thought provoking “If You‘re Not With Me” stands as my favorite song as a whole on this project. It shares our need as humans to act on haste rather than waiting for God’s direction, ultimately coming to the resolve that if God’s not with us in what we’re choosing, it’s not worth it: “May the words that I speak be the words You say for me, give me the right frame to see things that You see, I know that I'm small compared to this vast world, but if You are guiding, I’ll move where You want me.”
“Running After You” brings things back the group’s praise centered core as a longing cry to seek the Creator, and shows the band’s versatility to both lead in worship, as well as deliver powerful biblical truths.
Bringing this brief album to a close, is the solemn “What I’m Waiting For.” The song stands as a firm statement of waiting on God to lead us wherever we need to be, and brings the theme of the album to a close on a tight note.
Closing Thoughts:
2012 is proving to be a great year for Christian pop/rock, and Canopy Red’s Wake Up is yet another reason for fans of the genre to rejoice. Combining the contemplative lyrical musings of acts such as Tenth Avenue North, along with a melodic approach similar to The Afters early work, Canopy Red has a very bright future ahead of them in this industry, and Wake Up paints a very clear picture of that.
I’d like to see them dive deeper into some crunchier rock on their next effort. Tracks like “Paralyzed” and “Wake Up” prove they are more than capable of pulling it off. Regardless, this is one of the strongest pop/rock projects of the year and is well worth your time and money to give it a listen.
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