God & Money

Description

God & Money is the sophomore album by the American singer and songwriter Jill Phillips, independently released in 2001. The album was recorded by Matt Stanfield, Jimmy Jernigan, and B.J. Aberle with Jill Phillips, Andy Gullahorn, and Stanfield producing. Mixed by Jimmy Jernigan. Featuring apperances by other singer/songwriters like Stephen Mason of Jars of Clay fame, Bebo Norman, Andrew Osenga, as well as Jill Phillips’ husband, Andy Gullahorn.

Perhaps as much as anything else, Jill Phillips’ entry into pop music underscores the often disproportionate relationship between artistic merit and popular success. The Virginia native studied piano, guitar and flute during her teen years before enrolling at Nashville’s Belmont University to study vocal performance. Word Records’ A&R director David Estes heard Phillips perform at a writer’s night at Belmont and quickly signed her to the Word label. Less than a year later, in August of 1999, her self-titled debut album was released to positive reviews. That fall, Phillips opened for Christian folk-pop artists Caedmon’s Call on their college campus tour and was touted as an artist to watch in CCM Magazine. But, despite of Phillips’ considerable talent and the album’s critical acclaim, the effort managed only modest sales and radio airplay. Soon afterwards, Phillips ended her tenure with Word Records.

For those familiar with the debut, much of the independently-released God & Money, will have a pleasantly familiar ring. The infectious soft rock of «Little Steps» takes its cue from the polished pop craftsmanship of entries like «Only One» from the first album. Similarly, like «Every Day» before it, «Falling into God» explores the theme of romantic love using clever wordplay. The resolute stance of «Last Time» (“This time you’re gonna see/ One more chance is all I need/ To show you that I’m trying to let you down/ For the last time”) echoes the promissory tone of the debut’s «Steel Bars» in its declaration of seeking after better things. The best-of-album proto-worship ballad «Thankful» mirrors the debut release’s «Everything» by virtue of its beautifully sparse melody line and wonderful sense of heartfelt reverence.

Similarities to the first album notwithstanding, the independent production of God & Money seems to have allowed Phillips the freedom to investigate musical and lyrical ideas that may or may not have found their way onto a major-label follow-up. The stark, piano-based ballad «Tell Me Again» trades the pop construction of «This Time» and «Little Steps» for a decidedly more earthy, slow-burning torch song quality. Likewise, «Never be the Same» eschews the easy musical hook in favor of a stark, two-note-driven chorus and uses only an alternately swirling and staccato cello for accompaniment. Lyrically, songs such as «God Believes in You» (“When you’re betrayed with a kiss/ And you turn your cheek to another fist”) and «Beg» (“I’m gonna beg/ Please don’t go/ Please don’t leave me”) illustrate the album’s tendency towards a slightly darker set of images for its depiction of the human condition. The standout track «You Don’t Belong Here» (“Hey you with the rainbow flag/ I can hear them say/ You don’t belong here/ Not if you’re gay”) is unflinchingly candid in its survey of what is, even now, a largely overlooked subject in Christian music.

Timing in at just under an hour, God & Money is roughly one and a half times as long as the first record. While such an extended running time is hardly a bad thing in and of itself, the album’s sprawling character winds up introducing a fair amount of filler material onto the record. That said, though, what the album lacks in consistency, it more than makes up for with its sense of distinctiveness. Indeed, Phillips’ willingness to walk the less-beaten path, both musically and lyrically, insures that her second album is every bit as rewarding as the Word debut. If the first release was principally an assortment of catchy, instantly memorable folk-pop nuggets, God & Money is a more intricate and multi-faceted collection that reveals its true character more gradually, requiring multiple listens in order to fully appreciate its subtle musical textures and marvelously poignant themes. [Bert Gangl, The Phantom Tollbooth, 2001]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/god-and-money/213143443)

CD tracklist:

01. Last Time – 4:40
02. Never Be the Same – 3:00
03. God Believes In You – 2:14
04. Thankful – 4:33
05. Blame Somebody Else – 4:06
06. Falling Into God – 5:38
07. On Track – 3:01
08. When Love Is Present Here – 4:59
09. Tell Me Again – 5:31
10. Demon Town – 4:09
11. You Don’t Belong Here – 4:23
12. Beg – 4:10
13. Little Steps – 2:49
14. God and Money – 6:29

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