Description
Something New Under the Sun is the fourth studio album by the British singer, songwriter, and keyboardist Adrian Snell, released on Dove Records in 1979. In September 1978 Adrian Snell began working on the new album at Redan Recorders in London, England; with Jon Miller, Rod Edwards and Roger Hand producing, a company team known as Triumvirate Productions. (Triumvirate earlier had produced albums by Christian artists such as the American singer/songwriter Larry Norman and the British folk duo Malcolm & Alwyn.)
All the studio musicians featured on the album were from mainstream session work – Kevin Peek on guitar, a rhythm section consisting of bassist John Perry and drummer Barry De Souza, as well as a professional string section and backing vocals. The tight, bright rhythm tracks gave Something New Under the Sun a new contemporary edge.
It is hard to believe that 40 years ago, ‘Something New Under The Sun’ was released. It was a special recording for me, filled with promise and having the backup of a respected artist agency. This is another record that featured the incomparable artwork by Eugene Press and contained listener favourites like «Song At The Cross», but also the intense «Can You Get Me Out Of Here?», which I wrote on November 22th, 1974: the morning after the so-called ‘Birmingham Pub bombings’. The title ‘Something New Under The Sun’ could be construed as a play on words. A hopeful spin (based on the promise of the gospels) on the expression found in the book of Ecclesiastes, that there was ‘no new thing under the sun.’ At the time the album felt like a peak in my journey. It is a little ironic that the next decades proved that in terms of my music, there were, indeed, ‘many new things’ under the sun. [A note by Adrian Snell published on Facebook, July 2019]
Long-standing British ccm keyboardist and guitarist whose early LPs have some nice artsy melodic poprock and soothing orchestral folk alongside gentle piano ballads. Some might even call a few of his songs “progressive”. Snell’s music is very mellow but has an endearing symphonic presence that can be quite uplifting. [Ken Scott, The Archivist]
For several years MGO (Musical Gospel Outreach) and Buzz Magazine combined to put on an event in the Royal Albert Hall which I performed at several times. Quite an ambitious thing to do – with very limited resources and to put together a whole evening with different artists. The first time was after ‘Fireflake‘, and ‘Listen To The Peace‘ was launched at that event. I remember backstage Geoff Shearn [one of the founding members of MGO] running back and saying ‘We’ve sold 500 copies of your album tonight!’ He was thrilled to bits; a serious launch and they felt that it had all been justified. At one of these events, there was a guy looking after the PA called Jon Miller and he was part of a production company called Triumvirate, a secular company working with all sorts of things. He’d trained with [Beatles’ producer] George Martin. They were working with Gordon Giltrap who’d been on the fringes of the Christian scene; he’d worked with Graham Kendrick for a while. Jon heard me sing «Goodbye October», went to Geoff and said “If there’s a chance I’d like to work with Jon…” and as a result Kingsway and I went to Triumvirate and said ‘Can you be involved in Adrian’s recording work for ‘Something New Under The Sun’? …The whole feel of the album took a different aspect. Although it was very much me, all the musicians on it were from secular session work – Barry De Souza on drums, John Perry on bass, Kevin Peek on guitar, a professional string section and backing vocals. [Excerpt from an interview with Adrian Snell featured in Cross Rhythms Magazine #2, July 1990]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-early-years/1483315548)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “By The Waterfront” – 3:10
A2. “Praying To The Wind” – 4:13
A3. “Windsong” – 2:48
A4. “Song At The Cross” – 3:38
A5. “Child Of The Desert” – 5:34
Side Two
B1. “Can You Get Me Out Of Here?” – 5:36
B2. “Prayer” – 3:51
B3. “In Your Eyes” – 3:25
B4. “Picking Up The Pieces” – 4:00
B5. “Silent” – 2:51
Note: Released on yellow vinyl. Comes with folded colour poster with lyrics and credits printed on the back. (Track A2, is called “Ready To Believe” on label and “Praying To The Wind” on insert and back cover.) Some tracks from this album were included in the 3CD set The Early Years 1975 – 1981, released on the DUtch REcord COmpany DURECO in 1994.
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