Tori Kelly's Psalm 42
TL;DR: Psalm 42 is one you should listen to in your bedroom alone.
Okay, this is a strange writing prompt.
I haven't written about a song since 2013 here on my blog, but this song is really speaking to me. Well, this whole album actually.
Tori Kelly just recently released her newest album "Hiding Place". Here's an excerpt from the Editors' Notes found on iTunes and Apple Music:
"It's not unheard of for Christian and gospel singers to make the leap to pop music, but it's a bit more rare for an artist to pivot the opposite direction... [Kelly's] second album, Hiding Place, is full-on gospel, but (good news!) Kelly's pop ambitions remain fully intact... Even when traditional hymns are her source material... she transforms them into rousing rhythmic choruses."
Some background: usually when an artist I like releases a new album, I like to listen to the whole thing from start to finish - even if they already have a popular hit single. Albums are curated by the artist and the production team, and the 5-12 songs end up on the same record for a reason: they are all connected.
So, I listened the first time - simply for feels.
Then, I listened a second time, this time more attentively. And Psalm 42 stuck out to me.
Listening to the lyrics and her rhyming scheme, it sounds familiar. I'm a worship leader at church, so this isn't surprising. But the more I listened carefully to the structure of the song, there seemed to be a strange, but beautiful juxtaposition between structure and melody.
For a worship leader, the song follows the typical VCVCBCC. In a corporate worship setting, one might expect the vamping up to the chorus to resolve to a big, loud cry from the instruments and the music. But the decision to keep the music at a simple, monotonous rhythm really allows the lyrics to shine:
As the deer pants for the water so my soul needs You Lord.
The structure and lyrics fit that typical corporate worship song feel - and yet the melody and ad libs of Kelly's heart crying out is beautifully unsingable and difficult to follow.
Whenever Christian music comes into the mainstream, there's a tendency to see if the song will fit in a corporate worship setting. Unfortunately, most corporate worship music musically sucks. It's repetitive, it's the same four chords, and you can tell it's going to be worship song as soon as you hear the first 4 bars.
But, Tori Kelly is so good.
She is such a talented artist. She includes familiar, biblical lyrics and colours each song with her unique style and exceptional voice. I realize that in fighting my worship-leading tendency, Psalm 42 actually invites me to personally, individually worship and cry out along with Tori - in the confines of my own bedroom.
I don't know - I just read my last post about a song and it was kinda weird hearing how mind-blown I was by a simple song. Yet here I am, doing the same thing five years later.
Again, this entire album is beautifully made. Every song is woven together so fluidly. Each song is packed with truth, life and the honest dialogue of a heart searching for more.
It will take me a couple more times listening to it while I lay in bed and stare at the ceiling to really hear each song for what it is.
Okay, this is a strange writing prompt.
I haven't written about a song since 2013 here on my blog, but this song is really speaking to me. Well, this whole album actually.
Tori Kelly just recently released her newest album "Hiding Place". Here's an excerpt from the Editors' Notes found on iTunes and Apple Music:
"It's not unheard of for Christian and gospel singers to make the leap to pop music, but it's a bit more rare for an artist to pivot the opposite direction... [Kelly's] second album, Hiding Place, is full-on gospel, but (good news!) Kelly's pop ambitions remain fully intact... Even when traditional hymns are her source material... she transforms them into rousing rhythmic choruses."
Some background: usually when an artist I like releases a new album, I like to listen to the whole thing from start to finish - even if they already have a popular hit single. Albums are curated by the artist and the production team, and the 5-12 songs end up on the same record for a reason: they are all connected.
So, I listened the first time - simply for feels.
Then, I listened a second time, this time more attentively. And Psalm 42 stuck out to me.
Listening to the lyrics and her rhyming scheme, it sounds familiar. I'm a worship leader at church, so this isn't surprising. But the more I listened carefully to the structure of the song, there seemed to be a strange, but beautiful juxtaposition between structure and melody.
For a worship leader, the song follows the typical VCVCBCC. In a corporate worship setting, one might expect the vamping up to the chorus to resolve to a big, loud cry from the instruments and the music. But the decision to keep the music at a simple, monotonous rhythm really allows the lyrics to shine:
As the deer pants for the water so my soul needs You Lord.
The structure and lyrics fit that typical corporate worship song feel - and yet the melody and ad libs of Kelly's heart crying out is beautifully unsingable and difficult to follow.
Whenever Christian music comes into the mainstream, there's a tendency to see if the song will fit in a corporate worship setting. Unfortunately, most corporate worship music musically sucks. It's repetitive, it's the same four chords, and you can tell it's going to be worship song as soon as you hear the first 4 bars.
But, Tori Kelly is so good.
She is such a talented artist. She includes familiar, biblical lyrics and colours each song with her unique style and exceptional voice. I realize that in fighting my worship-leading tendency, Psalm 42 actually invites me to personally, individually worship and cry out along with Tori - in the confines of my own bedroom.
I don't know - I just read my last post about a song and it was kinda weird hearing how mind-blown I was by a simple song. Yet here I am, doing the same thing five years later.
Again, this entire album is beautifully made. Every song is woven together so fluidly. Each song is packed with truth, life and the honest dialogue of a heart searching for more.
It will take me a couple more times listening to it while I lay in bed and stare at the ceiling to really hear each song for what it is.
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