It’s been a long time since I had a favorite album.

 

But Amanda Cook’s (nee Falk) most recent release, Brave New World, has become a favorite since it came out last September.  I can’t put my finger on why; it’s not the lyrics, the instrumentation, or brilliant arrangements.  They’re all excellent quality.  But there’s just something about the feel of the album that brings me back every time, that, quite simply, makes the album a definite favorite.

 

Quick Stats:

Pros

Excellent quality lyrics, instrumentation, arrangements, and vocals; tremendous Holy Spirit anointing.

Cons

Stylistic uniformity that can get a bit repetitive

 

A little about the album: It comes from Bethel Music record label, where Amanda has been singing for some time, including “I Will Exalt” on the 2011 release Be Lifted High, “You Make Me Brave (Live)” the title track of the live album in 2014, and “You Don’t Miss a Thing” on Bethel’s 2015 release We Will Not Be Shaken.  Amanda wrote all of the songs on Brave New World.  She described the album as a journey as she dove deep into God to ask big questions and rethink what she truly believed.

 

Themes

The overall theme of the album is that God is leading us to a deeper place.  Also in almost every song is the theme of God’s nature – loving, nurturing, trustable.

 

Style

The style of Brave New World is a bit soft rock, very worshipful, yet not quite soft and sweet.  The album makes perfect soaking.  It’s a bit intense for just listening; I often find myself worshiping while I’m supposedly doing something else.

 

The uniform style throughout the album is the only negative I have – nearly all the songs are the same, stylistically speaking.  Since I like the style, that’s not a problem, but if you don’t like one, you probably also will not like the rest… or you might want to listen to only a few songs at a time.

 

Transfer to Worship Service

Some songs transfer very well to a worship service; particularly “Highest Praise” (the one overt, vertical praise song on the album), “Closer” (which also appeared on Bethel’s 2012 album For the Sake of the World, “Shepherd” (which also appeared on You Make Me Brave), and “Heroes”.  Others are better for either a soloist or to simply let Amanda do her thing.

 

Chord Availability

All of the chords are available on the Bethel Music chord website (https://bethelmusic.com/chords-and-lyrics/).  All are conveniently under the album “Brave New World” except “Closer”, which you’ll have to go down to “For the Sake of the World” (“Closer” exists, but there aren’t any chords).  The chords are generally great but…   (For those guitarists out there, Amanda seems to have an affinity with the key of Ab…as a pianist with a similar vocal range as her, this works out well for me.  But you might want to convert her chords to a more guitar-friendly key.)  Unfortunately, unlike most songs on the Bethel site, the chords could be better – they’re very accurate, except when there’s a flat minor chord involved (such as BbM) or the baseline note is different than the chord (for example, Ab/C).  So I fill in the details along the way, which is great when I’m by myself and not so great when I’m trying to play with the band and everyone is trying to figure out what a Bb chord is doing in the middle of a song in Ab…  (Actually, this problem was fixed along the way and seems to be a problem again.  So hopefully it will get fixed again!)

 

Track List / My Thoughts

1. Heroes – One of my favorites on the album. It’s hard to get away from the chorus: “You taught my feet / To dance upon disappointment / and I, I will worship”.

 

2. Shepheard – This also appeared on the Bethel album You Make Me Brave. I find this song so singable. Maybe it’s just because it’s in Ab (sorry all you guitarists – capo time).  Now if only the chords on the Bethel site were correct as well as accurate…  The bridge is great: “How I love you, how I love you / You have not forsaken me / How I love you, how I love you / With you is where I want to be”.

 

3. The Voyage – To be honest, I forgot this song was on the album, which means I didn’t find it particularly inspiring the first several times I listened to it. But it’s really cool song about moving with God into the unknown. The chorus goes, “What if the path you choose becomes a road / The ground you take becomes a home / The wind is high, but the pressure’s off / I’ll send the rain wherever we end up, wherever we end up”.

 

4. Never See the End – I love the chorus on this song, “How deep / How wide / How high is Your love for me / I can never see the end”. The verses focus on the nature of God – which really is the focus of the entire album.

 

5. Mercy – Definitely a song to catch me off guard when I’m doing something else at the same time. “You delight is showing mercy” is great, but I really like the bridge: “So I will awake / And spend my days / Loving the One who has raised me up”.

 

6. Flagship – An instrumental piece. Good as instrumental pieces go.

 

7. Kind – Ok, so I’ve run across a few too many people in my life that think God is in the business of causing tremendous suffering and “His” meanness so we’ll become worthy of His name. So I rather like the first verse, “You are not a tyrant King / You do not delight in suffering / Your power doesn’t compensate for insecurity / ‘Cause You are not a tyrant King”.

 

8. Closer – Just like on the Bethel album For the Sake of the World, Steffany (Frizzell) Gretzinger is featured on this song. It’s very, very differently arranged, though; much more subdued and minimal. I suppose I prefer the version I heard first, but it’s interesting to have a different take on the song, and it does break up the album a bit (which it could use, so that’s a good thing).  The bridge is my favorite: “Whoa, whoa, how great Your love is for me”.  Actually, “Closer” was how I discovered Bethel Music – one of my brothers had heard the song during the ministry time at the end of a Catch the Fire video on YouTube… and loved the song so much he got the album.  So there you go.  YouTube does help album sales.

 

9. Bitter / Sweet – This is just a fun little song, great for singing over and over at the piano. “You turn the bitter into sweet / The bitter into sweet / The bitter into sweet / You turn the winter into spring / The winter into spring / The winter into spring”. I could so see this on a children’s album, but between the sensitive arrangement and the way Amanda sings it, it’s not hokey at all.

 

10. Highest Praise – This is another of my favorite songs (along with “Shepheard” and “Heroes”). It so gets at the heart of worship, it’s so vertical at delivering that worship. The pre-chores trumps the rest (even the line in Verse 1 about “To the One I feel in the sunlight on my skin”): “To the One who was, the One who is, and is to come…Highest praises”.  Ohhh.  Love that kind of worship!

 

11. Brave New World – Another instrumental. Nicely done, too.

 

12. City of Hope – In this song, it’s the chorus that gets me every time, whether I’m listening to it or singing it: “’Cause You are mending the brokenhearted / You are making all things new / You’re rebuilding out of the ruins / A city of hope, with the ones You love”. Whether it’s the arrangement or just the power of the song, it’s amazing!

 

13. Pieces – The last song focuses on the nature of God and His love. It’s a good summary of the album, in some ways. “You don’t give Your heart in pieces / You don’t hide Yourself to tease us”.  This song was covered by Steffany Gretzinger on Bethel’s latest album Have It All.  Personally, I do prefer Steffany’s version, but this is great, too.

 

Star rating:

Lyrics: [rating:5]

Arrangements: [rating:5]

Originality: [rating:4]

Anointing / Carrying the Spirit: [rating:5]

Singability: [rating:4]

My enjoyment: [rating:5]

 

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