Current

Description

Current is an album by the American singer and songwriter Sarah Macintosh of Chasing Furies fame, released on Listener Records/Integrity Music in March 2012, marketed by Integrity Music and distributed by both Provident Distribution and Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. The album was recorded by Curt Schneider with Jonathan Macintosh and JT Daly producing. Mixed by F. Reid Shippen. String arrangements by Siddhartha Barnhoorn. All songs written or co-written by Sarah Macintosh.

Right from the opening harp, swirling strings and vocal layers of the title track it’s clear Sarah is no “standard fare” singer and her producer husband is no formulaic arranger. Her excellent material as part of Chasing Furies back in 1999 was somewhat reminiscent of the Cranberries in style, but this is a more fascinatingly quirky production. The arrangements have obviously been painstakingly crafted, with little oddities such as the offbeat quaver edit at the end of «Current», chopped up bits of vocals, mashed up and reversed strings, all adding greatly to the underlying acoustic instrumentation of harp, strings, piano and guitars. Musical song structures are not always predictable, often dropping back energy that’s been built up rather than continuously building, and the drums are often used to build momentum with percussive toms patterns, for example, rather than beating out standard rock patterns. Sarah’s vocals manage to simultaneously convey both power and delicate sweetness, moving effortlessly across her vocal register break point to both soar and purr. Of the songs Sarah states, “I hope that the listener will grab onto them [the songs] and say ‘Yes! This is for me!’ These are the songs of my heartbeat.” Each song has a story, some of brokenness, but all are tinged with hope in the Saviour. «The Damaged» is inspired by the image of a woman from a third world country who had broken an arm but not had access to anyone medical to reset it, so it had grown deformed and unusable. The title track is a frustrated response to how the world tries to tear marriages apart or give up. One of my favourites is a beautiful declaration of the safety there is being kept in the palm of the hand of «The Galaxy Former». Sarah also has interesting blog entries on her website explaining the thinking behind some of the songs alongside some live performance videos. This helps to bring the songs alive. For example, «Laughter Comes Upon Us» takes on a new dimension when you understand the journey from childlessness to the gift of a child that it is based on. This is a brilliant CD with a truly fresh sound. [Matthew Cordle, Cross Rhythms, April 2012]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-waiters-the-watchers-the-listeners-the-keepers-and-me/731194523)

CD tracklist:

01. Current – 4:52
02. We Should Run – 2:39
03. Take It All – 3:33
04. Hope – 3:32
05. Laughter Comes Upon Us – 3:13
06. Galaxy Former – 4:46
07. The Damaged – 4:58
08. Hiding Place – 4:25
09. You’re Coming – 4:48
10. Calling, Calling – 4:20
11. Joy Comes In – 3:43

Note: Available at Bandcamp: https://sarahmacintosh.bandcamp.com/album/current

[youtube_sc url=”” playlist=”Sy6tMq0nC0w,JKuF2rj5RMM,kzAkKLBdkXs,nQE22UoMOjs,A9ARfnB6jAo,G7UTTiQocO4,kG8RJTUdIWQ,0TbZgJXzDbw,3sRxnU6evS8,kngpq56U_1U,6OuIOlEh12k” title=”Sarah Macintosh, Current – Current + We Should Run + Take It All + Hope + Laughter Comes Upon Us + Galaxy Former + The Damaged + Hiding Place + You’re Coming + Calling, Calling + Joy Comes In” autohide=”1″ rel=”0″]