Style: Blues-rock Americana hymns; compare to Patty Griffin, Robert Randolph, John Mark McMillan
The Water and the Blood: The Hymns of Isaac Watts, Vol. II
April 26, 2011
Top tracks: “Absent from the Flesh,” “Blest Be the Lamb,” “The Water and the Blood”
The musical collective from Louisville, Kentucky’s Sojourn Community Church improves on 2010’s Over the Grave with this soulful, bluesy collection of Isaac Watts hymns. Alternating vocals and a strong rotation of instruments—slide guitar, Hammond organ, banjo and more—build cohesive Americana variety. Think Allman Brothers and Bonnie Raitt collaborating hymns for U2’s Rattle and Hum with traces of T-Bone Burnett and Kings of Leon. The best known “O God Our Help in Ages Past” drags, but most arrangements set a fresh, earthy backdrop for Watts’ heavenward, theological poetry. The album is a rich experience musically and spiritually.
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