We’ve teamed up with our friends over at One Man In The Middle to bring you regular, unbiased and honest reviews of music albums and EPs from Christian artists and musicians here in the UK and worldwide. This week we have Gold by Sam Bailey with an overall review score of 8.9 out of 10.
Album Information:
Sam Bailey’s heart is that this album would carry that same Kingdom vision; a vision motivated by a longing to see faith back on the front line of culture! That this collection of songs would not just carry a Kingdom breadth but would stand in ‘the gap’. That whoever’s hands they fall into, whether Christian or non-Christian, these songs and themes would spark something different. A thought process. A spirituality. A homecoming.
Review:
Sam Bailey’s name may sound familiar, but it is worth mentioning that this is not the Sam Bailey from “The X Factor”. Instead this is Sam Bailey who leads New Wine Worship and is a staff member at Kings Cross Church in London. This album is aimed to be a cross-over, something that can be picked up by anyone, Christian or not, and they would find value in the stories conveyed. As such it isn’t the out-and-out worship album that you might be expecting.
Some of the inspiration for the title “Gold” comes from a quote from Barbara Bloom which is on the back of the album sleeve which talks about traditional Japanese mending broken items by filling the cracks with gold. “When something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.” You can see how that this can fire the inspiration! This album is split into 2 parts, 5 songs a piece. Part 1’s songs are all about seeking the reassurance that God is there through the difficulties, Part 2 is more receiving the reassurance from God and moving into worship.
Although Sam and his co-writers don’t mention God as such there is enough emphasis. As such we have “Take Me Into Love” which could be a song sung by the Prodigal son after he returned to the Father. It’s definitely a song asking for repentance. Surprisingly it’s quite an upbeat number with some EDM elements, but the emphasis is on the lyrics. I think there is enough here that someone from outside a church background will understand the sentiment, if not the nuance that someone more familiar with church would pick up. As such this song does exactly what it was intended to.
“Safe & Sound” has a chorus that could have been written and sung by the Newsboys under Peter Furler back in the late 90’s. It has a great sound that is hauntingly beautiful. It’s an identification that God will protect, the other side of this is found in the title track “Gold” which seems to be God’s promise to be with you and to guide you the right way.
After the desire for the presence of the Spirit in life expressed in “Dove” at the end of Part 1, Part 2 kicks off with the stripped back guitar and keys of “Worry” which is a reassurance from God to His people to not worry because He will always be there. “Still With Me” is a dance track that just examines that middle of the night feeling when things are overwhelming, even at that point God is still with us. Simple expression and great truth and reassurance!
“Wildfire” co-written with Nick Herbert, Tim Hughes and Ben Cantelon, starts as a stripped back keys and vocal number and builds in percussion and other electronic elements as the desire for the soul to burn again and be ignited by the Spirit, so we could burn for God’s glory! This is the first song that feels like a real worship track that could be taken and used in a Church environment and directly references God, Lord and Spirit in this track. It’s a slow-burn song that may not catch you on the first pass, but I love this track and it’s probably my favourite on the album.
After another stripped back worship number of “World View” we have the ballad track of “Above & Beyond” which is about living in this moment, not looking to the past, but moving into the future that God has planned for you.
This is a well made, well mixed album that aims to be accessible for all listeners and not just believers. Certainly in some respects this will work, there are some stories told here that people will identify with. Early in the album there is no mention of God but an understanding of coming home, and a reassurance given in a different song, but no identity given of where that reassurance comes from. Perhaps something a little more descriptive would have served a purpose without being too blatant? With that said these songs work well together. There are a variety of styles throughout, although the second half feels much more stripped back than the first half, with piano and vocals taking centre stage on most of these tracks.
There are some beautiful tracks here in this sweeping arc that we are presented with. A couple of them would work well as singles and Wildfire would work well in a worship setting. Overall I really like this because it feels different and there are some niggles here and there, but the whole thing has a touch of class to it. I am not sure it is an album that I could put on repeat, but I could definitely dip into it to pull out some tracks for a playlist.
For track listing, ranking breakdown and more check out onemaninthemiddle.com
