Integrity Music
Release Date: November 15th 2024
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Matt Redman– In Excelsis – Single (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- When We Behold (In Excelsis) (feat. Jon Guerra
- God The Son
- Silent Night (feat. Leonard Ray Jarman)
Matt Redman, one of today’s most respected and popular worship leaders and gifted songwriters, released Glory Song way back in September 2017- his first live album since 2013’s Your Grace Finds Me. With Matt already gracing us all with plenty of smash hits such as “Blessed Be Your Name”, “Let Everything That Has Breath”, “10 000 Reasons”, “Better Is One Day”, “Once Again”, “Mercy”, “Your Grace Finds Me”, “You Never Let Go” and many others, it’s plain to see that Matt has recorded another winner in his latest project. Yet though we never reviewed Glory Song (due to time constraints, general busyness, and the fact that other albums were just simply more enjoyable to review!); we did want to rectify the situation the next time around. Matt’s debut project on Integrity Music, released in 2020, and was yet another live album called Let There Be Wonder. We reviewed the album here, and the project does indeed resonate with me in terms of being a simple worship project, dedicated to Jesus, as we lift our hands up and praise His holy name. With these songs still long-ish in that the entire duration of songs is closer in length to 75 minutes; this fact still remains that the album doesn’t gets old quickly. In fact, I reckon that Let There Be Wonder is the freshest Matt has ever been, since his studio album Beautiful News from 2006! You can read that review to see what I thought about that album, and what made the live album above other Matt Redman live albums. I also dove in to see the power of Matt’s offering, and my opinion as to whether I reckon any of Matt’s new songs will be sung in churches on Sundays for weeks and months to come. But unfortunately, Matt’s sophomore Integrity Music release Lamb Of God, has suffered thew sophomore slump, and is a live project that just meanders along and blurs together! This year though, Matt is back with a 3 song Christmas EP… so how does that measure up?
The answer is… unfortunately a mixed bag. The EP opener and original melody “When We Behold (In Excelsis)” with Jon Guerra is a blatant ‘rip-off’ of Matt’s own song from yesteryear in “The Wonderful Cross” in terms of melody (and so much so that it’s hard to concentrate to the incredibly biblical and heartfelt lyrics!), yet this song in and of itself is inspiring and magical, as Jon and Matt passionately sing out a fervent worship song to Jesus. “God The Son” is another original melody that is par for the course when considering Matt Redman worship songs. It’s a pleasant and nice melody about Jesus being born in a manger and being our saviour. But it’s still instantly forgettable by the time you listen to another album’s worth of Christmas songs. “Silent Night” follows, the lone carol- and this melody has been covered so many times, you’d think Matt would do something different here. Alas, he doesn’t, and this rendition will probably be lost in the shuffle of the many Christmas songs that don’t have a distinct identity.
With the album Lamb Of God stretching to an absurdly high length of 75 minutes; Lamb Of God isn’t that hard hitting and as engaging musically and lyrically from a technical and objective standpoint- other albums such as Your Grace Finds Me or Blessed Be Your Name are much more emphatic, joyous and celebratory. And Lamb Of God does drag a bit. But there’s no denying Matt’s heart, and if you love worship music along the veins of Chris Tomlin, Passion, Bethel Music and Jesus Culture, then Matt Redman’s Lamb Of God is exactly what you need at this time. It’s touching, heartfelt and pulling at all my emotions. Catchiness and complexity isn’t what Matt was going for, but rather a sense of unity, of camaraderie as we join together and worship out Lord and Saviour. As for everyone else who listens to this new project; I hope and pray that you are blessed and inspired also, even if it takes a while to get into these songs! Though not perfect, there are still solid songs here, and at this point, that’s all that matters. Same with this Christmas EP. It’s not my favourite of Matt’s releases. But someone around the world will be encouraged and inspired. And with that, let us remember that Matt still is a skilful song-writer- and that Blessed Be Your Name the album will still forever be his magnum opus.
Score: 2.5/5
RIYL: Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Tim Hughes, Soul Survivor, Hillsong UNITED