Vertical Music Jason Morant For most of his life, 24-year-old singer songwriter Jason Morant has been a part of New Orleans, its Church, and its music. His second release,
Open, underscores the artist's gift for melody, as colorful and textured as the city he's from. It's equal parts rock, pop, folk, and worship; he's inspired by all of it.
Open honors the city's musical diversity through rich instrumentation that includes ambient strings and horns, along with piano, dobro, banjo, and accordion. Lyrically, the songwriter exposes his range too, delving into personal subject matter and addressing the Church on issues near to his heart.
Review
I love all sorts of music. But I especially love worship music. It's a beautiful thing that we are able to take musical instruments and use them to speak different musical languages that add another dimension to the words that we offer to God. Occasionally we discover a CD where the artist is not only singing the words that reflect the thoughts of our heart, but is also worshiping in a musical language that perfectly expresses the intangible sentiments of our soul. For me "Open" by Jason Morant is one of those perfect CDs.
The second major release from Morant, "Open" is a delicate balance of rock, pop, and folk blended with flowing, modern melodies and lyrics that touch on the Christian walk's major and minor themes. All of these elements bleed together to create a string of uniquely sentimental worship songs. When I say "sentimental" I don't mean that you can turn them into love songs by replacing the references to God with your boyfriend or girlfriend's name. I mean songs that thoughtfully and tenderly worship God from the point of redemption, suffering, celebration and victory. Some songs make you want to sing along, others cause you to be quiet and listen, while others irresistibly draw you deep into His presence.
I hesitate to compare Jason to other artists, but I will say this: If you like indie rock or find yourself watching more and more new episodes of Austin City Limits, you probably will love this CD. "Open" is oozing with originality and Jason Morant has done an amazing job of expressing worship through modern music while eluding predictability. For all of its unique textures and worshipful lyrics, "Open" is definitely worth checking out.
Review by Jeremy Dunn
Song List: Open, Come Let Us Return, I Will Run, Make Us One, You're In Love, Holy Is The Lord, Offering, Postlude, Belong, Abba, 51st, Veils, Display My Love, All Of Me, At Your Feet, Hosanna 
