Red Umbrella [Living and Surviving]
Posted January 18, 2009
By christianmusicreview,
[MAIN REVIEW]
I am privileged to contribute to this great ministry at Christian Music Review by combining my love of Christian music with my love of delving into the meaning behind my favorite songs. This is my first review for the site and my repeated listening to this album for the past couple of weeks was a great way to get started. At first, I wasn’t sure if the message was too obscure to give this album a high message rating. However, there are clearly positive and at times directly biblical messages throughout the album.
Certainly Red Umbrella’s musical styling will remind listeners of Christian artists PFR, The Myriad, Phil Wickham and fellow Canadian band downhere. They have a great blend of Brit-Rock sensibility and classic rock like ELO, The Beatles, The Byrds and modern alt-rock bands Death Cab for Cutie and Keane. From their label website: "Living and Surviving" visits the idea of self-realization with new lyrical avenues of story telling. The opening track, "Prison Side" is the tale of a judgmental person ironically finding judgment upon himself: "Played his cards well, hit a land slide, Called a losing game, bookie shouts your name, Pulled your pockets out, pay up just the same". "Crazy (All Of Me)" is a poem from the situations in C.S. Lewis' book, "Out of the Silent Planet", taking listeners right into the story of captivity in intergalactic space.”
For me, one of the stand-out songs is the cover of the classic rock song “Turn, Turn, Turn”, originally recorded by The Byrds and based on Ecclesiastes Chapter 3, verses 1-8. Another highlight for me is the closing song “Babbling Brook”, which is a great introspective ballad asking the provocative questions “what will be written in my book?”, and “Did I give more than I took?” The song asks to tell your story and think about your legacy when you are gone. “Did you live or just survive?” Although there are several songs that use more allegory than direct biblical references, there are solid faith-based messages throughout this very catchy sophomore album, which in my opinion is an overall improvement over their solid debut album "Wishing For Boardwalk".
Another highlight for me is the very catchy title track “Living & Surviving” which has an electronic rock feel like the current hit song “Human” by The Killers. “Whisper All Your Love” is a great depiction of how God whispers His love to us in our daily walk with Him. The music is diverse, original and current while still paying tribute to great rock bands past and present and really fits the style of the album, which flows fluidly from track to track and with only 10 songs, leaves you wanting more from this up and coming alt-rock Christian band.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Red Umbrella is a great band and I’m looking forward to hearing more from them in the future. Fans of all types of rock music can enjoy something on this album. The album does mix in some interesting lyrical twists like in the urban beat story song “Boompop”, which has a great message regarding putting faith in more than a consumerism lifestyle. I recommend the whole album experience and giving it several listens to dig into the message and hook filled melodies.
Rating: 9.0 out of 10 (90%, A-)
Review written by: Kevin Davis | Review can also be found here.
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