Encouragement and Challenge for the Living
Somewhere over the last decade or so, I fell out of touch with the Christian music industry. There are still a few artists I enjoy and look forward to, but not nearly as many as their used to be. One of those is Jason Gray. Each new release is filled with songs that speak to me, and Land of the Living is no exception.
Jason’s previous release was the fantastic Order, Disorder, Reorder, which was a big concept disc. He said when he sat down to write this disc, he wanted to be open to wherever the ideas would lead him and just set out to write the best pop songs he could. While there isn’t the strong theme this time, these are twelve fantastic songs.
We start out by saying yes to God with the upbeat “When I Say Yes.” This will get your head nodding as we think about how things change when we go where God want us to go.
As you might have noticed over the years, I still enjoy quite a few things that are aimed as kids. I immediately connected with “When I Grow Up,” which reminds us to keep the childlike faith that Jesus praised in the Bible. Yes, there is a balance between maturing in our faith and that innocent faith. But we need to work to capture that.
“Questions” talks about the struggles in our lives and how they are make us grow closer to God.
When I heard the title of “Jesus Loves You (and I’m Trying),” I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of it. I love it. The tempo slows down slight here as Jason talks about the people in our lives who are difficult to love, whether that be on social media or in real life and how we should be aiming to love them like Jesus loves them. It’s a good reminder wrapped in some humor. The bridge really is when things hit home.
We get a similar theme with “Be Kind,” which builds a song around the familiar reminder to be kind because we don’t know what others are going through. This one convicts me a bit more because one of his examples hits home in dealing with LA traffic. Which I guess means it’s a reminder I need.
I feel horrible saying this, but about the only song I really don’t connect with is “Worth Staying For,” which is the most personal song on the disc for Jason. It’s very raw as he talks honestly about some of the deep hurts he’s had in his life. If you know his story, it’s going to hit hard. Please listen carefully to what I’m about to say. I can understand how writing and recording it would be good for Jason. I can understand how God can use it in other people’s lives. I suspect there are people who will find it their favorite song on the disc. It just isn’t for me.
But if I’m complaining about only one song out of 12, I’d say I’m doing pretty well, wouldn’t you?
I love the choir that joins him for “If You Don’t Move.” And some of the lyrics of “Good Man” are wonderful as he paints a picture of the man he wanted to be that admits to the struggles he’s had achieving that. And he winds stuff up with a reminder that with grace there will always be a “Place for Me.”
Stylistically, most of the songs are mid-tempo pop. There is some variations, but nothing major. Sometimes, I find that the songs will blend together if that’s the case, but it isn’t the case here. It helps that the melodies are unique.
If you are looking for challenge and encouragement in some fun songs, you’ll be happy you checked out Land of the Living. And if you aren’t already a fan of Jason Gray’s music, this disc will send you looking at the rest of his releases.
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