In.Motion

Really great new music, that is. Seriously, I’ve had a hard time keeping up with the tasty morsels that keep coming my way in the form of great albums. Thought I’d take a moment to tell you about 3 of my favorite new releases.

NeedToBreathe – The Outsiders

I hadn’t heard of these guys before, but I’m so glad I bought this on a whim. They have a really cool thing happening. They are poppy, kinda folkish, with a nice dose of grit thrown in. The title track has some great hooks and a good ole’ boom-chuck goin on. The lyrics are written quite well and with a healthy dose of sincerity. The whole band has got chops, but the singer has got a voice that is the special sauce. Other great tracks include the Alison Krauss-ish Stones Under Rushing Water and Through Smoke, which is driven by a great drum track. From what I hear from guys who know em, these guys are legit and are the real deal. Give them some lovin over at their site.

Imogen Heap – Ellipse

Imogen Heap is brilliant. I’ve always loved her voice and this record is just a continuation of the great work that we’ve all come to expect from her. Her soft melodies play so well against her digital beats and arpeggiated pad sounds. Plus, with the record on iTunes, you get an instrumental version of the album (did someone say Imogen Karaoke?). My fav track is the haunting 2-1, with it’s spacey and erie swells through most of it that moves into a creepy groove, strings, and synths that only she could pull off the way she does. Check her out here.

Phil Wickham – Heaven & Earth

This is quickly become one of my favorite records in the Worship genre. Wickham is one of the best lyricists because he doesn’t think like the rest of the CCM world does. He speaks differently and his poetic voice is so sincere and quite theologically potent. Heaven & Earth is the mature evolution of Wickham as an artist from what he’s done with Cannons and others. Everything is recorded very well, executed beautifully, and seem to be packaged just as he intended. Early favorites are Heaven Song (with strings recorded @ Abbey Road) and a great anthem In Your City. Even the weaker tracks on the record are still quite solid. You can pre-order it on his website, or you can pick it up when it comes out on iTunes Nov. 17th.

Now I wanna know what you guys are listening to.
What’s the best record you’ve gotten in the past month?

One.Love

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I have a tendency to want things sooner than I should. Or maybe I should say, I like to be where I want to end up sooner than life allows. Since this is the case, I have a nasty tendency to rush things. At the root of this, is a sense of entitlement, and within that is where my pride resides. I’ve known this for a long time, but I’ve never put the work that is required to separate pride from my character.

I think that some of my greatest strengths have also been the source of the constant thorn in my step. A man much wiser then me once said, “Never let your talent outrun your character”. This is not to say that I’m some kind of over-gifted brat or that I am something greater than what I am. It is to say that I’ve allowed the things that I’ve been blessed with in life to control the direction of my life and effect my priorities in it.

The solution to all this is to humble myself. To humble myself daily and to focus on what it looks like to make humility what I am about, rather than this pride that I’ve allowed to fuel my efforts for far too long. Seeing God for who He is and how He is is where I start. Declaring my dependance on and trust in God is how I take out the corrosive leech that has securely attached itself to my character and identity for far to long.

All this is to say that I feel like I’m moving again. I feel like I have a plan for what I need to do. All is left is to wake up each day and decide to make choices that rebuild my character. That continue to erase this pride from who I am. That continue to help me find my identity in the death and rising of the God that’s never left me.

One.Love

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