Dream Label Group
Release Date: September 24th 2021
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Switch– Better View Pt 1 EP (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Good Friend
- UP
- Better View
- Perfection
- Further
- REAL LUV
EDM on the CCM scene hasn’t really been given a real good attempt. Aside from Capital Kings, no one has really tackled the genre head on and decided to go onto a previously untapped music market. And ever since the disbandment of Capital Kings, fans have been aching for an artist or a band to marry the genres of pop, EDM, worship and CCM into a mesh that is absolutely genius. Well, can I be so quietly confident and tentatively hopeful in declaring that we can now look no further… because Switch, from Dream Label Group is here? Maybe I can be quietly confident. Because this band, which is essentially the youth band of Life.Church from Edmond, Oklahoma; have delivered to us songs full of worship and life and joy, but with electronic and synth undertones as well. The group dropped their debut album Symphony last year, and we were blessed to hear 10 absolute gems, as the band help us reignite the passion in our hearts, delivering us honest worship melodies sung in an up to date, relevant way, with plenty of electronics and synth that we can handle. Fast forward to now, and we are now presented with the group’s sophomore effort- the 6-track EP Better View Part 1. I’m usually wary of hearing sophomore albums (because I worry that most will fall flat and won’t hold a candle to their debut counterparts, like is the case with a number of artists… but this EP surprisingly surprises and impresses. And the result is a project worth multiple listens, and a band whose star power is on the rise and will only be higher and higher.
With Switch already impressing us with their smash hit “Symphony” from last year, their latest single here wows and impacts too, with the title track “Better View” being a laid-back acoustic type ballad, essentially relaying to us that Jesus is giving us a better view of life, even if we can’t see it in the moment. With the song thematically being about the concept of trusting God no matter what, the group eloquently relay that ‘…You’re giving me a better view, like windows open, sunlight shining through my bedroom curtains, You’re giving me a better view and I can feel it, with Your help I see a little bit clearer, so good, so good the way You see, see everything differently, it’s a better view…’; and inspire us to change our focus and our point of view. Instead of being critical of the things we don’t have in this life, why don’t we focus on and be grateful for what we do have? EP opener “Good Friend” is a radio friendly 3 minute melody about Jesus being a good friend to us no matter what, that It’s a reminder that even if we feel like we have to act a certain way for our friends to like us, it’s never like that with God. He doesn’t want anything from us but exactly who we are, and He’ll never walk away from us—no matter what. God is a good friend.; while “UP” is a boppy EDM melody that challenges us to look up no matter what, and to always keep our eyes focused on God especially when the world becomes too much to bear.
The piano prominent ballad “perfection” tackles the theme of identity in Christ and our own self-belief and self-worth. With the song outlining that we see extensive flaws in ourselves however Jesus Christ sees perfection in us; the melody reminds us that God loves us incredibly, with a passion and unendingly. It’s a melody that no doubt will bring healing and comfort to many; while the penultimate track on the EP is “Further”, a simple yet comforting track that eloquently describes how God will always go above and beyond everything that we ourselves could ever imagine- He loves us immensely and will go further for us simply because He loves us. Better View Part 1 EP then ends with the groovy, funky, danceable pop tune “REAL LUV”, whereby we are presented with a joyous testimony-type track about finding real love and new life in Jesus Christ.
Will Switch take off like other worship bands like Hillsong Worship and Planetshakers? Or will they take off like EDM acts before them like Capital Kings? Since I reviewed their first album, I haven’t been an active viewer on their social media accounts… and hence I don’t really know if they’ve taken off the way that I think that might’ve, could’ve or should’ve. And so, time will tell I guess, which way they go musically- but one thing is for sure. That these guys are extremely passionate for Jesus, and they are unashamed to proclaim the gospel. So let us listen to both Symphony and Better View Part 1, and remember every single truth that Jesus has said to and over us- and we can claim that for ourselves!
3 songs to listen to: Good Friend, perfection, Further
Score: 4/5
RIYL: Hillsong Y&F, We Are Messengers, Unspoken, TobyMac, Blanca, Mandisa, Ryan Stevenson