Welcome to another combined post of Message Mondays and Throwback Tuesdays. Today we’ll be talking about one of my favourite pop/rock songs- Abandon’s “Feel It In Your Heart”! That’s right, we’re only going back 3 years!
Recently I was sent the pre-release of Abandon’s Love Prevails (which my brother Jon is reviewing for this site!); the first album without Josh Engler as lead singer, and with his brother Justin Engler singing the lead vocals. Yep, the band did a ‘Hawk Nelson’ (choose their new lead singer from within the band!), and personally I think that Justin is just as good as Josh in singing- they both have similar voices anyway, so it’s not as if Abandon is moving towards a new sound or anything.
So perhaps it’s because the new Abandon album is releasing next week, but I wanted to quickly glace over one of my favourite tracks from their 2011 album Control. “Feel It In Your Heart”, the album’s first single, was made into a music video, and features a driving electic guitar, explosive electronics and synth, and captivating drums leading the track, all combing for an infectious, danceable pop anthem, one that I find myself dancing to quite a lot! Lyrically, there’s no mention of God, however some of the lyrics are though provoking and demand attention.
While this song doesn’t scream out ‘God is great, let’s worship him’ in that kind of overt way, Josh and co. remind us that there’s something bigger than ourselves in the world, emphasising from the outset that ‘…there’s a sound in the air, can you hear it everywhere? Voices trying to be heard, love is more than just another word…’. People are searching for meaning in this life, and as the band remind us that whatever meaning we attribute to our lives has to be felt in our hearts first before we embrace it and run with it, otherwise we are just going through the motions; I reckon that this song is needed and necessary for people to find out the meaning of life for themselves, as we all seek God and His will, as we are called to do what God has placed on our hearts.
Sure, one person listening to this song could be drawn to Jesus, but others may find meaning somewhere else. I guess that’s the risk with covert songs about Jesus, however Abandon are young men of God who are unashamed of their Lord and Saviour, willing to evangelise to everyone they meet. All they can do is plant a seed and let God stir in people’s hearts, and that is definitely the case here. If through this song, someone discovers their purpose that God has made them for, even if they haven’t discovered God yet, I still think that’s a pretty cool testimony, because God can still move and convict that person months, maybe years later.
We all have a dream, we all have an aching desire for something beyond the physical and tangible, and this song reminds us that that emptiness can be filled. So I hope and pray that this song brings all of you listeners hope and meaning for the future, and hopefully God brings you closer to Himself.
Below is the music video of “Feel It In Your Heart” and the lyric video of the latest single “It Was Love”. Are you excited for Love Prevails?