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Jon Simpson has filled his new nine-song CD
with intelligent praise and worship music, and intelligent praise and
worship music is more of a rarity than you might think. The disc begins
with a cry for Christian unity with “Make Us One”, and
closes with “Highest Praise”, a piano-based song about the
love shared between Simpson and his God. In between these markers,
Simpson’s smart lyrics and guitar-oriented instrumentation makes
for a disc sure to please those who enjoy God-centered music.
Simpson’s thoughtful lyricism is best exemplified with
“Daysong (My Only You)”, where he begins by singing:
“As daylight breaks/And dark gives way to amber hues/illuminating
Eastern skies/You hear my voice.” Rather than merely paraphrasing
scripture, as some in the genre are apt to do, Simpson looks at nature
and sees his Maker. It’s the sort of sentiment many feel –
whether religious or not -- while exploring the great outdoors.
It’s hard for some not to imagine a Creator when looking into
nature’s beauty. This soft song is also highlighted by lovely
bass work, which helps give the song its easygoing flow.
“Olivia” is another unique songwriting exercise. With this
one, Simpson sings to a girl. But this isn’t your typical love
ode, heard on radio 24/7. Instead, it’s filled with words of
encouragement to a follower of Jesus. “If you fall/You’ll
fall to the stars and need no man to catch you/Cause you’re
moving in a masterwork of grace.”
Simpson’s spiritually-centered attitude is best summed up during
one titled “Kingdom Come”. This man, who paints such
memorable word pictures, is obviously educated and at times his songs
read like poetry, particularly when read straight from the CD booklet.
Yet, like Apostle Paul from the Bible, Simpson doesn’t want to
waste his mind – even his well-trained mind -- on pursuits that
will not advance God’s overall plan. “’Cause I
don’t want it if it’s not part of Your Kingdom,” he
states just as honestly as possible in “Kingdom Come”.
Amazingly, Simpson produced, performed, recorded, and mixed this CD
himself. And while there aren’t many instrumental pyrotechnics to
speak of, the playing on it is consistently good. The guitar work, in
fact, is topnotch in places. Simpson also has a fine singing voice, so
that when he sings these spiritual songs, he does so with tangible
sincerity.
Sincerity is essential when it comes to worship music. If you happen to
tune into any contemporary Christian radio station these days,
you’re sure to hear plenty of praise music. But too much of it is
a repetition of the same songs, only done by different artists. As
popular as the worship style is, you’d expect to hear a whole lot
more originality out there. But you don’t. Simpson is a wonderful
exception to this rule; he creates personalized music for his God, and
does so in a convincingly honest way.
I can find only one area to criticize this release, and my critique has
nothing to do with the quality of music. Instead, this gentle knock
concerns the quantity of it. At only nine songs in length -- when the
average CD usually contains a good fifteen tunes -- is just not long
enough. But then again, there’s the old show business saying:
always leave the audience wanting more. And in the best possible way,
Jon has done just that here.
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