Sixsteps Records / Sparrow Records / Capitol CMG
Release Date: October 16th 2020
Reviewed by: Jonathan Andre
Sean Curran – Catch Me Singing (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Catch Me Singing
Do you remember way back in the day when Sean Curran was the lead singer of alternative/CCM rock band Bellarive? It seems like forever ago that Bellarive even existed, but they did, and gave us 2 solid worshipful albums, before the band left with no press release about what was happening, not until Sean showed up himself in Passion Conferences and I guess now the rest is history. With no formal statement regarding Bellarive’s disbandedment, nor even an official press release of Sean himself joining Passion full time in a band capacity; Sean Curran nonetheless is known primarily for his songwriting, giving us great melodies, be it part of Bellarive or even part of Passion, from songs like ‘Lazurus’, ‘Real Thing’, ‘Worthy Of Your Name’, and ‘Taste of Eternity’, to others like ‘Heaven’, ‘Almighty God’, ‘Calling on Fire’, ‘Bring Us Back’, ‘Sing’ and ‘Your Great Love’; to name a few. Now here we are in 2020, and Sean continues his involvement with Passion and their annual conferences. But that doesn’t mean that that is all he does. Sean recently unveiled to us his debut EP under Capitol CMG titled Bigger Than I Thought in mid-2019. We as a site reviewed the album here, and me personally thought this album was one of my favourite worship albums in quite some time. Sean is very much an artist who is poetically inclined and lyrically sound as any other artist, and this album that dropped in 2019 is certainly for anyone who loves worship music, with a little musical freedom and a heartfelt overall message, through all the songs, of entering into a place of worship without any worry or expectation. Now once again here we are, at the end of October 2020. After the relative success of Bigger Than I Thought, Sean unveiled a follow-up EP, this time a live project comprising of some of his greatest hits from his solo studio debut EP, some others new, and while also others being covers of famous worship songs as well; and while people may have dismissed it as ‘just another live project’, the live EP was anything but. Sean continued to fervently assert himself as arguably one of the worship ‘genres’ most humble, honest, and passionate; and his October 2019 live project was tremendous evidence of this- songs like ‘Bigger Than I Thought’, ‘The Great Migration’, ‘All Praise’ and ‘Live Again’, present on his live project, were all from his debut studio album, while songs like ‘Worthy of Your Name’ (arguably the most impactful and famous post-Bellarive song Sean has ever done) and the Hillsong UNITED cover ‘Good Grace’ were also present on Sean’s live EP. Now fast forward a year later, and Sean is at it again, this time with a single release- ‘Catch Me Singing’.
‘Catch Me Singing’ is perhaps for me, one of my favourite songs this year. Yes, you heard me. One of my favourites, and within the top 5, alongside others like ‘My Weapon’ (Natalie Grant), ‘Standing With You’ (Guy Sebastian), ‘Battle Belongs’ (Phil Wickham) and ‘Together’ (for KING AND COUNTRY). First hearing the song around a couple of weeks ago, it was really in the moment of realising that this song was very much curated and unveiled during this COVID-19 2020 season for a real reason, is what makes this song ever-more poignant and heartfelt. ‘Catch Me Singing’ is a reminder to tell ourselves to keep singing, to keep declaring God’s promises and what we know of Him to be, even during the seasons of darkness, doubt and winter, the times that we are experiencing now. For the lyric line ‘…You’re gonna catch me singing when the springtime comes…’ is a great reminder for all of us, that springtime happens after a dark and toilful winter, and that good things can often occur after the worst of difficulties. For to declare that we are still going to sing when spring comes in our lives requires guts and determination, but even more than that, it requires us to still believe into the fact that God has never left us during such difficulties of 2020, and that after everything has settled and we come out through the other side, we will still be declaring God’s praise, and understand that even in such a time as this, God is using even the COVID-19 pandemic for His purposes, no matter how baffling and puzzling it can seem to people right now. The time we are in is for a reason, albeit a reason that has resulted in deaths around the world, but nevertheless, a reason, that though we may not understand right now, doesn’t mean we’ll never stop singing of God’s goodness on the nations. We know that what happens or doesn’t happen, doesn’t stop God being God, and what we declare about Him isn’t determinant on the circumstances we are in. ‘Catch Me Singing’ is a reminder of God being God, for a long time as this song points out. We declare God for who He is not because of what we may have experienced in our own lives, but rather, we declare God’s fame just because of what He has done and continues to do in our lives, over and over and over again. Co-written with South African worship leader Brenton Brown, ‘Catch Me Singing’ is a great leveler, and places God at the continual centre rather than other worship songs that unintentionally place man there instead (I’m looking at you ‘Do It Again’ and ‘I Am Loved’!).
Bigger Than I Thought EP was by far one of my favourite EP’s of 2019, and Sean’s follow-up EP All Of Us (All Praise) continued to assert the claim that Sean, one of the many ‘new’ faces of Passion, inclusive of Melodie Malone, Kristian Stanfill and Brett Younker; is bringing in a new era of Passion just as passionate and worship-facilitating as the old guard of Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, Crowder and even Matt Redman. ‘Catch Me Singing’ just reiterates the fact that Sean is fast becoming one of my favourite ‘up and coming’ (I say this in inverted commas because though Sean is not new in that he was in Bellarive before, he is a new artist in terms of him singing solo and in a genre of worship!) artists over the last few years. The ever-changing landscape of Passion, and in effect, the changing landscape of worship music and worship artists as a whole; is very exciting- Sean’s new solo music is evidence of this. A must-have if you enjoyed Sean’s debut EP, or if you enjoy modern worship music along the lines of Passion and all its worship leaders; Sean’s new track is very much a timely moment to reflect upon during a year that has been so hard for so many. ‘Catch Me Singing’, and Sean’s debut 2019 EP Bigger Than I Thought is just the start of a hopefully long career of music that can hopefully shake up the notion of what worship music should look like and sound like to a new generation. Well done Sean for giving us ‘Catch Me Singing’, can’t wait for a full-length album, whenever that may arise!
Score: 5/5
RIYL: Chris Tomlin, All Sons and Daughters, The City Harmonic, Crowder, Leeland