Popular music, worship
Variety, punch packed into the Newsboys’ third album T
he Newsboys have been
one of the most popular bands in Christian music
since its founding in 1985. Noted for bouncy pop songs and infec- tious melodies, the band compares favorably to mainstream acts like Smashmouth, Maroon 5, and Bruno Mars. For years the group has been a staple at youth-oriented retreats and festivals, including the ELCA Youth Gathering. Restart is the third album since
the band’s lead singer, Peter Furler, was replaced by Michael Tait, formerly with the band DC Talk. Longtime fans may have strong feel-
ings about the transition, but Restart packs sufficient punch to win over some of the skeptics. Musically, there is considerable
variety, as the band branches out from the dance pop sound that made it famous to try Beatlesque British pop (“Fishers of Men”), piano bal- lads (“That Home”) and straight- forward rock (“Man on Fire”). Still, the dominant tone is electronic club music, and there are enough throb- bing synthesizers and catchy cho- ruses to keep fans of “the old News- boys” happy.
The album is strong lyrically as
well. While the early Newsboys was often noted for quirky songs (more fun than profound), the current
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group draws on a stable of industry songwriters to present material that is thought-provoking and spiritually engaging, without being preachy. The overriding theme is finding
and living a life centered in love. “Disaster” speaks of discovering grace amid the wreckage of life; “Enemy” draws on Matthew 7:5 and 1 Timothy 1:15 to suggest that the one who is prone to judge others just might be “the chief of sinners.” Note that Restart from Sparrow Records has been issued in two ver- sions. The more expensive “Deluxe Version” includes five extra songs, including a remake of “The Living Years” (a 1980s hit for Mike & the Mechanics).
Mark Allen Powell is a professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, and author of the
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music.
This column lifts up trends in wor- ship beyond regular “Lutheran circles”
Most Lutherans are used to the tra- ditional pattern of three readings and a psalm at Sunday morning worship that follow a three-year cycle called a lection- ary. Connected to a church calendar that has seasons such as Lent and Epiphany, the lectionary uses words and terms not heard in casual conversation. Most of the time the readings have some com- mon theme but sometimes it’s hard to figure out what the connection is. After writing these past years about
what other Christians are doing in wor- ship that we might learn from, it’s fun to look at how other Christians are learning a new thing from Lutherans. Called the
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