Faithfully Yours: Psalms

Description

Faithfully Yours: Psalms is a praise and worship album by the American singer and songwriter Margaret Becker with worship pastor David M. Edwards, independently released on Here To Him Music in 2004, distributed by Provident-Integrity Distribution. The album was recorded and mixed by Stephen Leiweke at Yackland Studios in Nashville, Tennessee; with Margaret Becker producing for Modern M, a division of The Select Artist Group.

Margaret Becker and worship pastor David M. Edwards teamed up on a project that literally embodies the origin of worship: eleven songs pulled straight from the Psalms. Written from the new Holman Christian Standard Bible translation (Broadman-Holman Publishers), this worship project brings a fresh musical representation to familiar Psalms.

Faithfully Yours is a theme album: Margaret Becker and worship leader David Edwards have co-written eleven songs centered around the Book of Psalms. This is not your typical worship, as the songs have a logical progression one to another, and they do not fall into the standard verse/chorus/verse/repeat chorus ad infinitum pattern of most modern worship albums.

This album is more in the vein of some of Michael Card‘s projects. The songs stay within the Scriptures, and are centered around an earthier, acoustic based sound, unlike most of Becker’s earlier catalog. Her vocals here are superior to that of Edwards, although he particularly shines on «Strength of the River», which also features the disc’s best usage of harmonies.

«Create in Me (Psalm 51)» explores some of the concepts previously expressed in songs by Charlie Peacock and Keith Green, but the new Holman translation used by Becker and Edwards paints it in a slightly different light. Like every song on the CD, there is a .pdf file provided of the song’s lead sheet for use in corporate worship settings, a nice bonus.

The only question mark on the album comes in the form of «How Happy», based on Psalm 40. Becker strains to reach notes that would be more accustomed to a gospel choir, and the results fail to reach their potential. I’ll stick with U2’s «40» when I compile a mix CD of Psalms songs.

It is unclear whether ‘Faithfully Yours’ is intended to be the first of a series, or is a one off between the two artists, but further work in this vein would be a refreshing diversion away from the current wave of modern worship discs. [Brian A. Smith, The Phantom Tollbooth, January 2005]

CD tracklist:

01. Create in Me (Psalm 51)
02. Where Could I Go? (Psalm 139)
03. I Will Praise You (Psalm 86)
04. How Magnificent Is Your Name (Psalm 8)
05. Song of Invocation (Psalm 141)
06. I Enter Your House (Psalm 5)
07. How Happy (Psalm 40)
08. Strength of the River (Psalm 46)
09. Call on Me (Psalm 50)
10. Who Is Like You? (Psalm 71)
11. Most High God (Psalm 97)

CREDITS. Produced by Margaret Becker for Modern M (a division of The Select Artist Group). Recorded at Yackland. Overdubbed by Stephen Leiweke at Yackland and Playground Recording Studios. Engineered by Jason Bradford, Jimmy Jernigan with basic engineering by Leiweke. Mixed by Leiweke at Yackland. Mastered by Jim Falzone at Venus Mastering. Programmed by Stephen Leiweke. Package Art Direction, Design, and Photography by Mike Rapp. Cover Illustration by Nicholas Wilton. Executive-Producer: Glenda J. McNalley.

Musicians: Margaret Becker (Lead and Backing Vocals), David M. Edwards (Lead and Backing Vocals, Piano, Wurlitzer), Jonathan Noel (Piano, Wurlitzer, Keyboards, Accordion), Stephen Leiweke (Guitar), Chris Donohue (Bass, Keyboards), Ken Lewis (Drums, Percussion). Backing Vocals: Margaret Becker, David M. Edwards, Craig Adams, Jason Kennedy, Kelly Minter, and Stephen Reter.