A Collision – David Crowder Band

Boss Hogg, Earl E. Hickey and Rednex have something in common. This something can be described with a single word: hillbilly.

Now, if one was to take the David Crowder Band circa 2005, crush their mostly tiny bodies into a mushy pulp, filter out the teeth, hair and bones (stay with me here for a moment) and then distil the remaining mousse-like matter down to its quintessence, you would be left with pure, undiluted hillbilly.

You see, the spirit of hillbilly pounds through the veins of A Collision. Fiddle, check. Raggedy snare drum, check. Faded oversized dungarees, check. Banjo, check. Yeehaws-a-plenty, check-and-double-check…

But this is hillbilly infused with attitude and a glorious preoccupation with all things Jesus.

Consider if you will, A Beautiful Collision or again, Wholly Yours, tackling respectively the grand themes of the holiness and immanence of God and the doctrine of total depravity, but all this encapsulated within refined bluegrass infused pop-ery.

Then there is Our Happy Home (used for the recent Songs of Ascent sermon series intro video), a glorious and soaring rock anthem reminding believers in Christ that this earth is not our home and death is not the end and that one day we will join with the saints in the New Jerusalem where ‘God alone is King’.

This is the strength of A Collision and the David Crowder Band’s output in general (consider also their most recent offering, Remedy, reviewed here). The David Crowder Band are imbued with the gift of presenting, unpacking and celebrating profound biblical truths within three-ish-minute tracks which combine the listenability of sing-out-loud pop with a musical invention normally reserved for those artists tagged ‘alternative’.

And let us reflect upon this quirkiness. Much of A Collision appears to lean heavily on the revived alt-country scene and an obvious reference point would be Bright Eyes’ 2002 offering, Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground. Both albums blend a fresh, cut-up, electro-pop vibe with traditional folk-country sensibilities.

With regards to A Collision, the result of all this is a compelling quirkiness disguised as pop-rock (see the video for Foreverandever, etc. above). There is a sense of originality and adventure here in both the music and the lyrics. Consequently on the first listen, Here is our King, sounds to be our typical contemporary worship song. On listening more carefully, we find that the depth and texture of interlaid loops and samples is reflected in a depth of lyric,

And what was said to the rose
To make it unfold
Is said to me here in my chest
So be quiet now and rest

Now there is a glorious turn of phrase here that takes the miracle of regeneration and presents it in an altogether fresh and illuminating light. Come Awake begins with the beeping of a heart monitor asking, ‘Are we left here on our own…?’ before swelling into another one of those surging choruses, ‘Come awake from sleep arise, you were dead now come alive.’

This album is filled with such moments of brilliance which cause the listener to marvel again at the wonder of the gospel and the truth that there is indeed a God and this God speaks dead people into life.

Andy Evans

To purchase A Collision, click here.