Red Street Records
Release Date: October 11th 2024
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Consumed By Fire– Merry Little Christmas (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
- Happy Birthday Jesus
- Holly Jolly Christmas
Over the years, there’s been a few bands that have been comprised of siblings. For King and Country the most notable, with Joel and Luke comprising of the duo, who are actually in fact siblings of pop-worship artist Rebecca St. James. For KING AND COUNTRY became a household name almost overnight with their song “Busted Heart”, and from there, the rest is history. Then you have other artists like About a Mile (consisting of three brothers) and Red Roots (three triplet sisters), both of whom previously have scaled the landscape of worship-rock and country-Christian respectively- and both bands have seemingly moved on to other projects and endeavours- and thus have quietly slipped away from music. OBB was another sibling band that has since moved on to accomplish other things in their lives; while BarlowGirl was a rock band in the 2000’s comprising of 3 sisters. Cimorelli is a sibling band that is still active, as is Switchfoot (two brothers in Jon and Tim Foreman, plus friends) and Needtobreathe (Bear and Bo Rineheart plus friends, but now Bo has left the group); while country/pop trio The Band Perry split not too long ago. And so, these artists aforementioned have reached stratospheric heights (for KING & COUNTRY, Switchfoot, Needtobreathe), while others haven’t had as much success. But nonetheless these sibling bands have still presented to us albums full of heart and poignancy. Now enter in another band comprised of siblings- Consumed By Fire. Previously signed to Inpop Records, and now to Red Street Records; this trio of three brothers in a band have released a successful album Giving Over in 2016, one that boasted the singles “Lean on Me” and “He Waits For Me”. We reviewed the album here, and with the group musically similar to needtobreathe and Rhett Walker Band (and vocally sounding like Bear from needtobreathe as well), the band’s continuance in bringing together genres of rock, folk, gospel and praise are enough for anyone, whatever your musical genre persuasion, to listen to this band, at least once. The group also released their song “I Need You God” in 2017… and since that time they’ve been dormant for whatever reason. In 2023 though, the group have since resurfaced; and their brand-new full length album First Things First is a breath of fresh air for the CCM market and for music in general. If ever you have any doubt that Consumed By Fire will hit the sophomore slump, like a fair few other artists in the past; then this new full length album should shatter your beliefs from the get-go. This year though, the band have tried their hand at Christmas music, resulting in a 3 song EP called Merry Little Christmas.
Opening with the quasi title track “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”, we are treated to the quintessential holiday melody that we all have grown to love or hate. But Consumed By Fire’s rendition is actually quite inspiring and magical, and brings a smile to my face. Go figure! “Happy Birthday Jesus”, a original from the band, is next, and basically proclaims the birthday of Jesus in no uncertain terms; while the loud, raucous and energetic “Holly Jolly Christmas” ends proceedings with a bang!
For Consumed By Fire’s second full length album, First Things First is prayerful, and realistic, hopeful, and honest; as these three brothers which make up Consumed by Fire really have a winner in the making. And while it’s been 6 years in between releases; this album shows us that class, temperament, greatness, and ability don’t really ever go away. If the next full-length album is anything like this one, then Consumed By Fire’s third full length album will be one to savour, whenever it releases! And while vocally the lead singer may sound like needtobreathe, the vocal similarity is a good thing- people hearing this new music from Consumed by Fire will try needtobreathe, or vice versa. Whatever the case, First Things First the album, is as personal as they come, with the band inviting us to partake alongside them, proclaiming that we need to put the Lord first in all situations, not just the times when everything is going good. Though the group’s Christmas EP is short, these 3 songs pack a punch- and I’m positive that any future Christmas full length album (whenever that arises), will be epic and awesome too! Well done to the guys for such an enjoyable album; I absolutely can’t wait to the next album whenever it releases!
Score: 4/5
RIYL: Third Day, needtobreathe, Rhett Walker Band, Lifehouse, Switchfoot, Carrollton