Independent
Release Date: December 7th 2018
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Building 429– Glory (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Glory
On the heels of releasing (in my opinion) their most inspiring, and strongest album of their whole career (musically, lyrically and thematically) in Live The Journey in September this year; what’s next for Christian pop/rock band Building 429? Jason Roy, Jesse Garcia, Aaron Branch, and Michael Anderson have won a place in my heart with their latest album (read my glowing 5/5 review here!), so you’d think that the next release they’d unveil I’d sit up and take notice, right? Well, you’d be right. Because Building 429 has released their brand new single “Glory”, an original Christmas melody that fits right at home amongst original Christmas songs over the years such as “Christmas Makes Me Cry” (Matthew West), “This Christmas (Father Of The Fatherless)” (TobyMac), “Baby Boy” (for KING & COUNTRY), “You’re Here” (Francesca Battistelli), “Believe” (Josh Groban) and “December Song” (Peter Hollens). Essentially a worship song as we hear the Christmas narrative sung from the perspective of the shepherds and the wise men, Building 429 have invited us on a journey as we are presented with the emotions and the feelings of those first-hand witnesses of Jesus’ birth and their opinions about it all.
Witnessing a strange star in the sky is that- quite strange. But for the shepherds to actively praise someone they hadn’t even met yet, and for the wise men to travel thousands of miles to give presents (gold, frankincense and myrrh) to a baby boy, is astounding and remarkable to say the least. Some would even say that they’re mad, but that’s the beauty of faith in the unseen, right? On the say-so of the prophets, the wise-men and the shepherds believed in something that logic and science say is impossible. But Jesus came to defy expectations and change up the status quo. If you look at his life through the gospels, it’s plain to see a man claiming to be God, who is either a liar, a madman or telling the truth. I believe that Jesus is telling the truth of his divinity, however you may come to a different conclusion- and it’s not my job to persuade you otherwise. Building 429 have delivered a melody full of biblical truth, and here’s hoping that this Christmas/worship song will convict the hearts of many who don’t yet believe- but I guess that’s up to God to mould and shape hearts…
With “Glory” being musically CCM in nature, nothing really has changed now that Building 429 are not on a label anymore. “Glory” is just as impacting as ever, and as a Christmas song, is one of my favourites of all time. If you’re not a fan of Building 429, then you should be, and this song is the perfect platform to by introduced to an artist for the ages (and then of course you can work backwards through their discography!). It’s not known what is next for the quartet (a hymns album or a covers album would be pretty cool!), but until such a date where they release something new, let us be amazed at the words of “Glory”, as we declare ‘…glory to God in the highest, and on this earth good will to all men…’. Oh, and listen to Live The Journey too!
Score: 4.5/5
RIYL: Tenth Avenue North, MercyMe, Sanctus Real, Matthew West, The Afters