Review

Usually, when speaking of worship, one tends to shy away from the word "Artist". For many, this word has become synonymous with dark sunglasses, granting autographs and generally becoming quite fixated with one’s own talents and abilities. So, it might surprise you that an album entitled "ART" would be so humble, unpretentious, and yes, even worshipful.

This sixth release from Andrew Smith’s Remnant Records strives to re-establish the "artist" as one who gives back to God the best of his abilities as an act of worship. The goal of this effort is that we return to the arts as a means to glorify the greatest Artist of them all, without eclipsing the One who is worshipped. For the most part, Andrew Smith and the others succeed at this.

The reflective piano of the first track and Kim Johnson’s confessional lyrics set the tone for an album of open-hearted worship. As she sings "Father here I am in this place again/ I know that you’re no stranger to pain/ To loneliness/ Father here I come/ I lay my burdens down/ Knowing that you’ll take me as I am/ My heart is aching for my Father/ My eyes they long to see my God/ This world has nothing I desire/ You are what I’m looking for.." from "I Am Yours", you can sense that these songs are intentionally intimate, even painfully honest.

There is a sense here of worship that is so focused on Him that it forgets we’re listening in. At times, the songs become so personal, a casual listener might feel self-conscious. Yet, that is what true worship is all about, becoming so in tune with God that any incidental audience is forgotten.

Ari Neufeld’s beautiful song "Art" provides the heartbeat of this record and it’s devotion of music, and soul to the greatest Artist of all, "So they wouldn’t know what I feel/ When You look at my art/ You paid an impossible price/ To hang it on the wall of your heart.."

The recording is very acoustic-based with some great percussive instrumentation and tasteful piano backing, matching the lyrical honesty with raw, organic sounds and providing some lovely breathing room for the worship leaders to focus their attention and talents on giving back to God the best of their art.

"Bittersweet", another penned by Canada’s best-kept secret Kim Johnson, is truly a diamond in this rough musical landscape. While Kim sings "And I ache for these things I cannot see/ For I know I will touch them/ With these trembling fingertips..", the pulsing, rhythmic percussion creates a hypnotic soundscape for her "Bittersweet agony..", as she longs to more fully know God and see His face.

Most of these songs would fit nicely into any regular worship service, with their simple acoustic arrangements and instantly memorable words of devotion and worship. There is a youthful spirit to many of these songs, possibly because of the intensity of the artists themselves, and partly because of the vibey "coffee-house" feel of the instrumentation. Still, there’s almost nothing here that would seem out of place in the Sunday Morning worship set. The only possible exceptions might be Andrew Smith’s "Close 2 U", which is more performance-oriented, with enough words for three overhead sheets. Plus, the final track "Unison" by Ari Neufeld is very reverent and worshipful lyrically, but becomes quite experimental musically about halfway through and may be more distracting than conducive to corporate worship in many settings.

In addition to all of this on the music side, there is an interactive portion of the disc that features an interview section with Andrew Smith, details of the Artist Collective the worship leaders support, and bio information on each of them.

For an independent effort, this is one Cd that stands apart from the crowd and manages to reinstate the art of worship with clarity and style.

Review by Keith Giles