Provident Label Group

Release Date: May 27th 2022

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Steven Curtis Chapman– Still (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

1. Still

In 2008, singer/songwriter and CCM artist Steven Curtis Chapman endured and suffered the most horrific pain you could ever imagine. The long and short of it was that Steven’s son Will was backing into the driveway of their home, and accidentally killed youngest daughter Maria. The family was a wreck after that, Steven almost quit music all together, and the family questioned whether God was good. And… it’s understandable what Steven was doing. In effect… he was deconstructing his faith and questioning why God ‘allows’ suffering. And of course, they had to do all of that, they had to grieve, ask questions, go through that entire process. When you’re in the pit like that, it’s no good if someone yells out ‘Jesus is with you, so get up and you’ll be fine’. Sure, you will be fine after a while, and that sentiment may be true, but it’s not something you want to hear right now, and those words will probably do more harm than good. When you are feeling rotten, just like Steven was back in 2008 and probably still will now 10 years later, and into the future; the best thing for someone else to do is to sit with you, cry with you, and just be there. Which is what most of the faith community, and most of the world did for Steven and his family. They rallied around him, they didn’t ask questions, they just let him be. And when the 2009 album Beauty Will Rise released with most of the music sounding very similar, and the lyrics very emotional and the melodies quite sombre- because the content was inspired by Maria’s death; no one complained, no one lectured- they just let Steven be and heal from this ordeal.

Now, more than 10 years later, Steven’s relationship with Jesus is as strong as ever, and while no one can fully heal from a death as profound as that, we can now understand the purpose in the pain. The meaning behind Steven’s suffering. And it’s for us to realise how much we need Jesus in our lives. And how dead we all would be without Jesus, but how grateful we all should be because of Him. Though I know suffering isn’t of God, it is still used by Him, in order to show us how much we should rely on Him. After the album Beauty Will Rise, he released a collection of re-worked hits Re:Creation in 2011, a full length studio album The Glorious Unfolding in 2013 also inspired by Maria’s death, as well as a worship album in 2016 called Worship And Believe, an album that wasn’t inspired by Maria’s death, but was an album that by that time, Steven could have sung and recorded in spite of Maria’s death. Since 2016, Steven hasn’t released any new material, aside from the singles “We Remember”, the 25^th Anniversary edition of “The Great Adventure”, “Remember To Remember” and “Together (We’ll Get Through This)” with Brad Paisley, Lauren Alaina and Tasha Cobbs Leonard. Now, here in 2022, as Steven has re-signed to Provident Label Group for a number more years and albums, Steven is back with his brand-new single “Still”, from his upcoming 2022 album.

My new song “Still” is now available to listen to on all music platforms! 35 years ago, I released my first record, and began what a songwriter once called a “great adventure”! I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I’d have the opportunity 35 years later to, once again, pour out what’s in my heart onto “the page” and into a recording like this. These unprecedented times we have all been journeying through have stirred me deeply, and this song has come from that deep place…this music is as honest as any I’ve ever written. As the lyrics say: “It’s been beautiful, and terrible, more painful, and more wonderful than I ever could’ve known, and even so…Still, I’m gonna sing about the One who’s given life to me!”

“Still” is probably my favourite song from 2022. It probably will be my favourite song from 2022 when the year ends. And as Steven powerfully, majestically, and fervently relays to us that he is still going to praise Jesus even when trials and tribulations occur, we are presented with Steven’s most honest and vulnerable thoughts and musings, that ‘…still, I’m gonna sing, about the One who’s given life to me, oh, His love is unchanging, His grace is amazing, still, I’m gonna praise the Only One who always stays the same, oh, I know He is good, I know He is faithful still…’. A melody that is just as healing and comforting as it is thought-provoking and confronting, Steven has undoubtedly created a masterpiece, and a song I will listen to many times over before the year ends.

Considering that we are still in the midst of COVID-19, Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Still” is a perfect reminder that Jesus Christ is in control and that we can depend and rely on him immensely and at all times. “Still” comforts, heals, and provides hope; and as such, Steven has to be congratulated many times over. And now, there’s nothing more to say about this song other than… go listen to it and go buy it! You won’t regret it at all! Well done Steven for a sublime and near-flawless melody that will be timeless in the coming months and years!

Score: 5/5

RIYL: MercyMe, Lady A, Rascal Flatts, Lauren Alaina, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Michael W. Smith