Shawn McDonald – Ripen

Description

Ripen is the sophomore major label studio album by the American singer and songwriter Shawn McDonald, released on Sparrow Records in March 2006, manufactured by EMI CMG Label Group, distributed by EMI CMG Distribution. Also marketed and distributed in the EU by Kingsway Communications Ltd. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Christopher Stevens at FabMusic in Franklin, Tennessee (except tracks 3, 4, 5, and 7 recorded by Josh Davis at Spaceway Studios in Dallas, Texas; with Will Hunt producing). All songs written by Shawn McDonald except track 5 co-written with Will Hunt and tracks 9, 10, 13, and 14 co-written with Christopher Stevens.

There are hundreds of thousands of singer/songwriters who with their trusty acoustics in hand try and draw the listener into their particular inner world where thoughts and (hopefully) insights are expressed through one of the most intimate musical forms. Few indeed though are the artists of the calibre of Seattle resident Shawn McDonald. After six years touring as an independent artist, developing his music and crafting his songs, Shawn released his record label debut ‘Simply Nothing‘. This set surpasses that and is already topping all kinds of charts in his homeland. Throughout Shawn’s voice retains a husky wistfulness perfect to convey the spiritual longing of many of his song themes while the production – 11 tracks by Christopher Stevens and four by Will Hunt – encase him in a full orchestra (the poignant opener «I Wanna Be Ready»), or accompany Shawn with shuffling percussion and a bubbling keyboard figure («Reason»), an aching pedal steel («Pour Out»), or a beautiful string quartet («Lovely»). Very occasionally the accompaniments lose their sympathetic edge – I’m not sure the strange electronic effects on «Image» add anything to the Spanish guitar instrumental – but nearly always they bring light and shade to Shawn’s glowingly sincere songs of redemption. And where the singer’s voice breaks under the sheer emotion of «Lovely» it is a truly moving moment. This reviewer will through the year hear hundreds of devotional singer/songwriters presenting their muse on CD. I doubt though whether I’ll hear a better album than this. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, March 2006]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/ripen/724701305)

CD tracklist:

01. I Want To Be Ready
02. The Rider On The White Horse
03. Reason
04. I Am Nothing
05. Free
06. Ramblings Of A Begger
07. My Salvation
08. Pour Out
09. Confess
10. Home
11. Take Hold
12. Perfectly Done
13. Imago
14. A Little More
15. Lovely

Note: Also exclusively available at Family Christian Stores with a bonus DVD (DVD tracklist: My Salvation (Acoustic Version) / Pour Out (Acoustic Version) / Stories Behind Ripen / Shawn’s Journey / Shawn’s Photography).

an exclusive edition of ‘Ripen’ that was only available through FamilyChristian.com for a limited time as part of their ‘Heart of the Artist’ series. The first CD contains the regular album, while the bonus DVD contains the following material:

• Acoustic versions of ‘My Salvation’ and ‘Pour Out’ – Just Shawn and his guitar, set to a single static image for the duration of each song.

• Stories Behind Ripen – A track-by-track spoken word commentary by Shawn McDonald set to a static image. It also includes extensive comments on the making of the album as a whole.

• Shawn’s Journey – A video of Shawn McDonald giving his testimony. Filmed in concert at Oklahoma.

• Shawn’s Photography – A montage of photos taken by Shawn McDonald set to the track ‘Reason’.

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