Review

'It's far too easy to throw bread from a distance, and to have it in no way engaging your heart.'

'I think the Lord has been challenging us to... get involved with the poor and that it be a real and honest and open expression of who we are as a church.'

(taken from the online video interview)

Who do you think made the above two statements? A church pastor? An evangelist? Well, the speaker is the young worship leader who brings us the latest Hosanna Integrity project, 'Mercy'. Eogan Heaslip expresses with passion the kind of heart and ministry that is the center of an outreach oriented church, called CORE in Dublin Ireland. Eogan (pronounced 'Owen') uses that same passion from the Lord to not only fuel an ongoing pursuit to reaching his local community, but to write music and lead worship. And fortunately for us, this is a passion worth bringing to the nations, with this new album, 'Mercy'.

As you can tell, I am particularily impressed with the heart and ministry behind this music. Additional to that, however, is some truly great music. As the CD perculates through the first song, the sounds of pop-rock intersect with acoustic guitar into a swell that welcomes the listener to nod their head and worship in beckon prayer and praise. 'All I Want To Do' is a good selection for the opening track. It's combination of progressive programmed rhythm and guitar-laced instrumentation a beckoning musical call. Not driven, but with much more edge and 'reality' than a pop-radio song the music is perfect for a group of longing hearts to sing out:

'All I want to do is to be close to You,
And all I want to say is thank You for the way,
You love me, You love me.'

Then in declaration, the chorus opens up into proclamation with saying 'You are faithful, to all that you have promised...' Simple, but intruiging, this is excellent as a call to worship song, bringing us together to declare, as one Body, our intention of drawing towards Christ in thanks for His love and faithfulness.

Flowing immediately into the next song, 'All That Matters' continues with the singular devotion of lyric and focus by stating, 'You are all that matters, all that satisfies, all that gives me life'. This upbeat song has a fun tempo along with a bass line that is reminiscient of Brian Doerksen's 'Light the Fire Again'. But the lyric content again is penetrating, saying 'Lord my life is in your hands, you fasion me, you form me. Fulfill your purpose and your plan.' Line after line speaks in surrender, bowing the heart low in submission to Christ's will. Once again, this song is singable and joyfully playable in most worship/praise band settings.

The instrumentation and arrangements simplify and breathe with 'Your Love', a song which is a weave of thankful and love-themed threads. For most of the songs on this album, the writer stays succint and consistent. Largely full of thanks and declaration of God's character, the album majors on lyrics talking about God's faithfulness, love, and (yes) mercy! Arrangements are relatively straightforward, lending opportuntity for swift congregational adoption into church services. As the album rises and falls in tempo and rhythms, the texture of Eogan's voice urges us on, an interesting combination of dry and breathy tones, but with grit enough to call you to attention. And while worship never stops on this album, listening to Heaslip's voice is certainly intruiging. By the sixth track, the feel mellows considerably and the sounds, rhythms and lyrics of an old Kevin Prosch song (Break Our Hearts) are blended as the introduction to a timely rendition of O Come Let Us Adore Him. The singing and spontaneous words of praise and humility echoing from the congregation are retained in this track especially, and it fits beautifully. If you aren't in crumbling posture of humility and abandon along with the lyrics and music of this CD by this point, you might want to check your pulse.

The next song drives straight into heart cry of Heaslip's constant prayer in this project for 'True Intimacy'. Still with bubbling programmed rhythm, percussion and light acoustical arrangements, this song builds and ebs through an honest prayer language of simple devotion to Christ, declaring 'You're all I am longing for'. One other thing that happens a number of times on this CD is a wonderful reminder of the power of congregation refrains sung a capella. Just beautiful! The songs roll on, through pop-rock, brit-rock and anthem sounds and even back to an acoustic guitar and keyboard offering with Heaslip joining label-mate Brian Doerksen singing the song 'The Father's Love'. Wonderful! The album concludes with the title track 'Lord Have Mercy' and the popular Tim Hughes song 'Here I Am To Worship'.

To get a good sense of the CD, I encourage you to check out the audio clips online (there are clips for every song!). After listening to those, hearing Eogan's heart on the online video, and reading the above text transcript of more Q&A with Eogan, I think you will be ready to check out this CD seriously. I liked it enough to give it an Editor's Choice Award, because of the easily adoptable songs, strong lyrical messages of thankfulness and Scripture-themed declarations of God's character, and very fine musical accomplishments and arrangements on this CD. I pray this passion and and music ignites across the earth in ministry as poignant as what the Lord is doing in CORE church and with Eogan Heaslip.

Review by
Kim Gentes