Word Records
Release Date: November 11th 2014
Reviewed by Joshua Andre
Everfound– Resolution: Christmas EP (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Carol Of The Bells
- Resolution
- Silent Night
- Emmanuel
- I Want Christmas Back
Aren’t you sick of listening to Christmas music by now? With the bulk of albums releasing in October being Christmas themed, and the stores selling Christmas themed decorations, ornaments and foods from October onwards as well, we as a site have reviewed plenty of Christmas albums as well! With this site reviewing albums this year from 1 Girl Nation, Michael W Smith, Joshua Mills, Salvador, Chris August and Kim Walker Smith, there’s now another artist who has released a Christmas album/EP.
Everfound, a quartet of Russian brothers (well, now trio, as Larry has now left to study architecture at university), took the Christian and mainstream market by storm with their emphatic, honest, powerful and musically diverse pop/rock/anthemic self-titled debut in July 2013, with many hits arising, and songs for the soul. As Nikita, the lead singer has skilfully conveyed; the enormity of God’s love and how we are all accepted in spite of our shortcomings; forms the backbone of the debut album lyrically. Also releasing a remix EP exclusive to Spotify, and releasing music videos for “God Of The Impossible” and “Take The City”, now let’s dive in to see the band perform some holiday tunes, as they praise God and sing about His birth!
“Carol of the Bells” is an explosive, orchestral sounding, rock infused, instrumental melody, and trip across all types of genres, and includes many electronics, synths, remix elements and grunging guitars. With the melody sometimes sounding like the traditional melody, and at times sounding like an unrecognisable track, I commend the trio for stepping out of their comfort zone, and showing us how to turn a traditional carol into something a bit more modern. This rock inspired rousing anthemic melody of enthusiasm and celebratory joy doesn’t match up to the ingenious of both David Crowder*Band and BarlowGirl, but it is enjoyable nonetheless.
The remaining 4 tracks are split between 2 carols and 2 original songs. “Silent Night” has the band unashamedly and unequivocally giving praise to God through song, proclaiming across captivating keys, remix effects and glockenspiel about how Christmas is sacred as ‘…Christ our saviour is born…’, and soon enough the pulsating drums and the powerful choir comes in and the song is given a new, fresh and relevant update, that is extremely enjoyable! It’s also cool to hear the band sing out the last verse in Russian, and also captivating to hear a spontaneous free worship part at the end as well! “O Come O Come Emmanuel”, one of my favourite carols of late, and this version is enthralling and inspiring, cementing my love for the carol even more! Rivalling only Third Day’s version in brilliance, in my opinion, the electronic/dance themed remixy melody is recorded to perfection, with the new bridge added and fitting in quite nicely. As Nikita proclaims ‘…our God is now with us, our Saviour, here for us, our God is now with us, He’s with us…’, there’s a sense of passion and love for Jesus that I haven’t heard from the band before! Well done Everfound for creating an inspiring and encouraging track that has me singing aloud as well!
Sounding like a New Year’s day or eve anthem rather than a Christmas song “Resolution” is a rock anthem at heart, driven by synth, remixy effects, a strong bass line, with also some whistles thrown in for variety, as the band remind me of Owl City musically. Lyrically we are met with a band longing to share the love of God in 2015, and declaring that ‘…no matter what this year will bring me, I’m ready for a new beginning, watch over me and keep me marching on with eyes wide open…’, giving us something to sing about as well as we ourselves approach the new year, look back on our achievements throughout 2014, and set our overall goals for 2015! While I think this track is somewhat out of place amongst the Christmas carols, what is clear is that the band are passionate for changing the world and bringing people to Christ, and you can’t fault them for that- this song is a surprising but welcome addition on this EP.
The last song is “I Want Christmas Back”, which is a weird title, however it’s intriguing. A pop/rock tune led by rousing guitars, enchanting backing vocals and stirring synth, Nikita and the band sing about the negative feelings of Christmas that some people in the world associate with the holiday. Putting themselves in the persona of someone who doesn’t like but wants to experience Christmas for the birth of Christ, the honest and emotional chorus tells us that ‘…I want Christmas back, I don’t want the past to hold Christmas back, so tell me what I takes to fix thing, cause tonight is full of new beginnings…’. Not many Christmas songs deal with the broken and single families, and those struggling on that night, so Everfound deserves to be congratulated for creating a tough track that I think needs to be heard so that we can all actively help our brothers and sisters in Jesus through any situation.
Though short in duration and track length, Everfound’s new release Resolution: Christmas EP is a treat to listen to and a reminder as to how great this band is, musically, vocally and lyrically, especially when they are singing about Jesus’ birth! Even though theere are a plethora of Christmas albums already released this year, this release is still just as impacting and poignant! It’s hard to believe that these guys are in their early twenties- they’ve written more than a lifetime of personal material in their studio tracks, and these holiday themed tracks serve as further reminders of the testimonies of God’s faithfulness for the brothers! It’s a shame that they weren’t present on WOW Hits 2015, yet I think Everfound have a bright future ahead of them, and are sure to succeed in the future, in both the Christian and mainstream markets. Well done guys for making my listening experience an enjoyable one. I look forward to hearing your full length studio sophomore album, whenever it releases!
3 songs to listen to: Resolution, O Come O Come Emmanuel, I Want Christmas Back
Score: 3.5/5
RIYL: Audio Adrenaline, Hawk Nelson, Colton Dixon, Jeremy Camp, Switchfoot