Enough is enough. I have thought countless times "I should blog about Rend Collective Experiment's Organic Family Hymnal" but if you skim my past posts, you will see I have failed to accomplish it (until now).
Organic Family Hymnal came out of nowhere for me. I've never heard of Rend Collective Experiment until I saw their physical CD in my hands. And based on how they describe themselves, I won't hold my breath that they will still be around to accomplish a second album. But even if they don't give us more music, Rend has given me a soundtrack to this "out-of-ministry/pre-church-planting-training" season I find myself in. And for that I am grateful.
It's Kind of Quirky, But I Like It
The word that came to mind when upon my first listen of Organic was "quirky." Some songs employ bells. Others have horned instruments. My current favorite even uses a slightly out of tune piano (which would normally drive me nuts, but for some reason I don't mind.) The lyrics are slightly different than the standard Christian/worship fare. I felt like I was listening to a Sufjan Stevens album (if he were to ever put out an all-out worship album), but slightly more "mainstreamed" for the masses. I enjoyed the music, but it was just... different.
But then an amazing and rare thing happened. Me, the former music major, who only can remember chord progressions and forgets the words to even songs I have written, found myself singing these songs at random times throughout the day. And I didn't mind these songs being earworms. I found my heart caught up in spontaneous worship, drawn to the heart of God through the very-original lyrics.
The songs are deeply Christ-centered, but don't rely on the tried-and-true statements found on most every worship album (First time I've heard someone sing about when their "emotions squirm"). On different days, different songs have really impacted me. "Movements", "You Bled" (which is the video at the end of this post), and "Faithful" are some of the strongest songs on the album and have meant a lot to me, along with others. Currently, "Broken Bread" is the song helping draw my heart most to the Father. Here's the chorus of "Broken Bread", which has helped me during this time of waiting to move ahead in the ministry God has planned for me:
I will not fight You,
Take me past the line that my heart draws
I will not fight You,
Take me beyond the laziness of my thoughts,
I will not fight,
Lead me further than I've gone before,
I will not fight You,
I'm abandoned to Your call
Not Perfect, Which Makes It Perfect
The album isn't perfect to my ears. For instance, I grate at the flat-intonation of the lead singer at the end of "Broken Bread." But these imperfections make the album all the more real, human, and raw, sort of what our worship is when it is authentic. It is giving God everything, even our imperfections and bad intonations and rawness, and choosing to exalt Him for who HE is as the Perfect One.
On the same day I first heard Organic, I also heard the first worship album of an up-and-coming worship band. Like Rend's music, the songs were also very Christ-centered. The presentation was very polished and professional. But after one listen, I felt like I'd heard the album a hundred times. There wasn't much original about it. I have only listened to that album maybe 3 times, but according to iTunes, I have already listened to Rend's musical offering over 20 times, which doesn't include the times I've listened to the physical CD in other portions of the house.
Recommendation
While I would selfishly prefer that you give your $10 to The RiverTree Project, I guess I can let you spend it on The Rend Collective Experiment's Organic Family Hymnal knowing it will help you keep your thoughts on following God and worshipping Him no matter what life is bringing you right now. And perhaps if enough people buy their album, they'll stick around long enough to give us another original, quirky album.
Rating: 5 out 5 trees
To get an idea of Rend Collective Experiment's original-yet-quirky-yet-deeply-worshipful music, here's "You Bled"
