Independent
Release Date: April 10th / April 17th 2020
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Building 429– Remember (Single) / Another In The Fire (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Remember
- Another In The Fire
On the heels of releasing (in my opinion) their most inspiring, and strongest full length album of their whole career (musically, lyrically and thematically) in Live The Journey in September 2018; what’s next for Christian pop/rock band Building 429? Jason Roy, Jesse Garcia, Aaron Branch, Steven Stewart and Michael Anderson have thoroughly 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. Fear No More EP released in 2019 (which I also reviewed!), while the band have also dropped their first foray into Christmas music. A Thrill Of Hope released in November last year, containing two original Christmas tunes as well as two re-worked carols- all of these songs fitting 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). I reviewed the EP here, while the group also released a cover single early this year in “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”. And so we come to this past month, where Jason Roy and his friends unveiled a cover of Pat Barrett’s hit worship song “Canvas And Clay”. We reviewed this single also, however what came next is a a couple of more worship covers- and a sneaking suspicion that the band is set to release a covers album very soon!
Ever since Building 429 left their label and started a new one shortly after Live The Journey released, they’ve been on the go non-stop. It’s a great thing that they’re still making music…but does this mean that the latest singles “Another In The Fire” (Hillsong UNITED) and “Remember” (Bryan & Katie Torwalt) are good quality? Perhaps, you reckon, that maybe the fact that these guys are releasing yet another cover, and have also released a couple more covers early this year; is because they’ve run out of ideas and are just going through the motions in releasing songs just because. Maybe that could be true (because, who could really verify unless there’s a press release from the band about their next batch of songs?), however I am not that cynical. And because I see the best in everyone…well that makes me love “Remember” and “Another In The Fire” from Jason and his friends, all the more! See releasing a cover song that is as faithful to the original as possible, yet also adding in some diverse new musical genres and/or vocal elements that make the cover version their own; is a clever and nifty skill. “Remember” sounds similar to Bryan and Katie’s version, except Building 429 have recruited Moriah Smallbone as a guest vocalist (I know this, even if she’s not credited yet!), while the band have stripped back “Another In The Fire” and made it more acoustic and intimate that UNITED’s original loud and raucous version. And these versions strangely work. And now, that’s enough from me. Now you can listen to these new songs and let me know what you think of it!
Now that Building 429 are not on a label anymore, has anything really changed? “Another In The Fire” and “Remember” are just as impacting as ever and, as worship songs, are one of my favourites of the past few years. If you’re not a fan of Building 429, then you should be, and these cover tracks perhaps can be 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 quintet (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 these eternal truths that Jason is crying out. Let us also hope for Building 429 to cover “Waymaker” soon…it’s only a matter of time, don’t you reckon?
Score: 4.5/5
RIYL: Kutless, Nickelback, Daughtry, Switchfoot, Newsboys, U2