Track by Track Review- Best Album Yet!
5
By buzzzzah
Cathedrals is by far the best Tenth Avenue North album yet and has firmly cemented me as a fan. The album has much better production than their other albums, producing a more smooth, pop sound that suits them well. Their lyrics are also, as always, strongly biblical, dealing with our relationship with God and other humans, and continuing their theme of liberation from sin into life, a life marked by struggle but also by true joy.
No Man is an Island, the first song on the album, was previously released as the title song of their latest EP. It speaks about Christian community and our need to fight for relationships through the brokenness. The song is catchy, with more electronic sound than they've previously used.
Stars in the Night uses more vocal manipulation and Mike Donehey's voice is perhaps strongest on this song. It's an anthem, with a sparse percussive background. It's also a fairly electronic song. It's about God's guidance in our lives, and the way we should focus on him and his mercy above all other things.
Iesu Dulcis Memoria is a kind of electronicized gregorian chant. It's beautiful, with vocals from Audrey Assad, and it's a nice break from some of their more driving songs.
Cathedrals, the title song, is the high point of the album. Its lyrics are beautiful, with lines like "Lift your eyes up to His face / Let joy take temptation's place." It's a very sonic sound, very catchy, and will almost certainly be the most successful song on the album.
I need you, I love you, I want you is the most intimate song on the album. It strips away the large driving percussion and guitar and focuses on the lyrics and vocals. It's my personal favorite, because the whole song cries out so genuinely to God as the center of our joy.
The Spark is a more upbeat reflection on God's grace and the way that we can rest in him. The chorus is catchy, but the verses are slightly muddled by their characteristic short lyric phrases. It's a good song, but it's not one of the best on the album.
Heaven's Sound is another anthem, with electric guitar and percussion. Its melody doesn't stick, but the lyrics are still strong, focusing on God's redemption of all things. I think it's the least strong song on the album.
Stay speaks primarily about marriage, as an affirmation of the commitment spouses make each other to "stay." It's a beautiful song, and can be extended to Jesus' same promise to "fight to keep us safe here." The song is upbeat, but the lyrics shine throughout the whole song.
We Won't Numb the Pain / Fire is two different songs. We Won't Numb the Pain is a very strong theological song, speaking about the way we use worldly things to dull our experience of life, when God calls us to live fully even when it's painful. It's a bit more of a rock song than the other songs on the album, but its lyrics make up for the sudden genre switch. Fire is a nice contrast to We Won't Numb the Pain. The only accompaniment to the vocals is an acoustic guitar, and the song is a personal prayer to God to use us as "a fire burning in the night." Again, Mike Donehey's vocals are strong on this song, and his vocal range is larger than other songs.
Closer reminds me of the type of alternative made popular by bands like Imagine Dragons. It's catchy, with the strong percussion mostly replaced with an upbeat rhythm throughout the entire song. The song states that God is closer than our fears.
All the Earth is Holy Ground is a ending reflection on the sanctity of all things. It summarizes the album well by emphasizing the way in which we should approach life by seeing God in everyone and everything we do. Mike sings "I don't believe in secular things / Just a world waiting to be redeemed." It's a slower song, with a strong melody and stronger lyrics.
