Listening on a cold winters evening, you cannot help but be transported back to the Big Top, gathered together, with our hearts turned towards Jesus. I can almost taste the hot doughnuts!
For many, these songs will have expressed profound moments of faith. For me it was in 2001, aged 15, having given my life to Jesus at the summer festival, that I waited in anticipation for the album release to bring back the sounds that helped me define, declare and express that decision through song. Each year since then I have seen the songs on these albums help young people to do the same. But it is not just an opportunity to look back. Soul Survivor’s choice of worship songs has come to define many churches’ worship expression; their songs are almost synonymous with ‘contemporary worship’, and many now firmly established in our church repertoire will have been first heard at Soul Survivor festivals, and recorded on their live CDs.
This year’s album, The Flood, continues the tradition of great live albums coming from Soul Survivor’s summer festivals. The sound, as ever, is both familiar and fresh, with relevant biblical lyrics, and songs that can be translated for use in the local church with relative ease (if you have someone who can play the guitar!). At times I would like something a little more musically remarkable, but I continue to be blessed by the worship from the Soul Survivor live CDs, and this year’s album is no different in that respect.
Across two CDs there is a great, varied selection of songs to express our worship to God, and as such it would be a fantastic album to buy for a new Christian. ‘My lighthouse’, ‘Sovereign over us’ and ‘Your love never fails’ all beautifully express the truth of God’s faithfulness through hard times, whilst ‘Let it be known’ and ‘The flood’ speak of the joy of declaring God’s victory. The album is solid musically and lyrically, if a little predicable in style, though this is not wholly to its detriment. There are no surprises, and listening in full offers a great opportunity to engage in worship, in the car, at home, or in a church group.
It is clear to me that whether on our own or in our churches, these songs are written to be sung. They express truths relevant throughout time. This is not just a snapshot of the summer festivals but speaks now just as then, and I believe these songs will continue be used to the glory of God in the coming years!
Patrick Davies is a worship leader at Holy Trinity Church, Aldershot, and teaches in a primary school just outside Guildford.
