Music Review by Shelley Wasserman
I HAVE A DREAM – The City Harmonic
“The creativity in communicating the gospel through words and music is impeccable and a major feat for Christian music…This album is sure to establish The City Harmonic as not just another band, but as a movement of new worship artists.” – JesusFreakHideout.com
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“The City Harmonic has a sound unlike any other in Christian music today. So much so, I hesitate to even call them a band, but rather musicians because the quality of the music is so powerful.” – NewReleaseTuesday.com
“While it may only be their debut album, The City Harmonic has created something that seasoned groups strive to do and rarely accomplish. It truly is an impressive album that glorifies God and keeps us listening for more.” – Breathecast.com
The City Harmonic was totally not what I expected from looking at the CD cover. I also had not heard of them before. I have to say that they completely blew me away with their CD and I will go so far as to say it’s now my favourite in my collection.
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So who are they? The Canadian band is made up of 4 band members. They formed in 2006 and have very quickly made a name for themselves. They have two CD’s out: ‘Introducing the City Harmonic EP’ and ‘I Have a Dream’. In 2011 they won many awards such as New Artist of the Year and Modern Worship Song of the year.
Their music can be likened to artists such as Coldplay and U2. They offer such depth to their music with their skill in the wide variety of instruments used as well as their incredible range in their vocals. The lyrics, which are scripturally rich, are sung with such sincerity and are heartfelt that one finds themselves very easily and quickly singing along in songs that one can relate to. The worship songs are so beautifully arranged, with such defining of soft and strong that this CD is really just an explosion of musical creativity and brilliance. The crescendo’s in chorus’s has ones heart melting with theirs and the next thing you know you are belting out His praises with a smile on your face, burdens feeling like they are being carried away and being replaced with the hope only true worship of our King could bring.
Three themes
There are three ‘themes’ that run through this CD. The Transfiguration, The Wizard of Oz and Martin Luther King. Yes, all three can be successfully found intermingling within this CD. You can read what the lead vocalist, Elias Dummer, had to say on this under the song ‘I have a dream (If feels like home)’.
I could give a breakdown of every song, which would be easy to do as every song is more than worthy of it, but this review would take forever, so I will give you feedback on some of my favourites.
The CD opens with the track titled ‘Yours’ which is lyrically, vocally and musically strong and just gets ones heart in a place of total surrender. ‘It’s Yours, all of it Yours’ is repeated as the chorus and in that it creates this desperation within one to give Him everything.
They then take you on a journey where one song seems to build upon the other.
‘Spark’ begins with the sounds of piano and grows into what is really just a brilliant arrangement of music, much like the spark the lyrics ask for that will cause a fire that will consume our lives and cause us to make a difference in this world.
‘Mountain top’ is one of my personal favourites. It speaks to me of His faithfulness. I love the chorus: “We’ve been to the mountain top, we’ve seen the glory of our God. He’s here in the valley low, He’s here, I feel it in my bones, our God, here and now.’ This is also making reference to a part of Martin Luther King’s famous speech. This song is actually just incredible!
‘Fell apart’, ‘Be Still, O My Soul’ and ‘Wake me up’ follow.
We then reach the track that the CD is named after. Martin Luther King’s famous speech forms a part of this song, which intrigued me, so I went and did some research on this track. Below is an extract from their blog that Elias Dummer wrote. You can read more about this track at www.thecityharmonic.com
“In many ways, “I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home)” is inspired by this very speech. But with it we seek to communicate a sense of the Christian dream. And so it is also inspired by the Christian story (and, strangely, the Wizard of Oz – a familiar story of a strange world and the longing to awake and find yourself at home). In Revelation 21, God reveals to us the ultimate conclusion of our story, the eventual end.
We often speak as a band about what we like to call “hopeful nostalgia”, the idea that each of us (Christian or not) wrestle with the feeling that the world today is not as it ought to be – that we don’t feel fully at home. C.S. Lewis talks about this too, saying, “If I find in myself a desire that no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probably explanation is that I was made for another world.”
‘La Reve’ and ‘Love’ follow. ‘Holy (Wedding Day)’ is another of my favourites on this album. It is such a hopeful song. It starts at the cross, and takes us to our wedding day where we meet our Groom and our only response will be worship to Him and sing ‘Holy, holy, holy…..’ This song is powerful!
The last song on the album is the benediction.
This has been a lengthy review I know, I just really wanted to give it as much credit as I could as it is truly an amazing CD that will have you hit repeat…So I will end with this: YOU HAVE TO BUY THIS CD!!!!!!!! :-)
If you would like to see some of their music videos you can try these links…You will not be disappointed!
I have a dream:
Mountaintop: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3iGXT5bYi4&feature=related
To listen to Holy/ Wedding day: http://www.myspace.com/thecityharmonicmusic/music/songs/holy-wedding-day-84346062
Here is also what ‘Worship Together’ had to say about the band: http://www.worshiptogether.com/worship-leaders/?iid=1825619
