Description
White Flag is the third full-length album by the American singer and songwriter Shaun Groves, released on Rocketown Records in 2005, manufactured and distributed in the US by Provident-Integrity Distribution. Manufactured and distributed internationally by Sony BMG/Fierce! Distribution. The album was recorded by Skye McCaskey at The Bennett House in Franklin and Fireside Studios in Nashville, Tennessee; at Continuum Studio in Los Angeles, California; and as well at Skye Dog Studio; with Shaun Groves producing. Mixed by Skye McCaskey (tracks: 2, 7, 12) and Richard Dodd (tracks: 1, 3 to 6, 8 to 11). All songs written by Shaun Groves except track 8 written by Jay Hall, Darin Sasser, and Chad Jarnagin.
I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with anticipation when this disc hit my mailbox. Shaun Groves? That “Welcome Home” guy? I was prepared to write off White Flag as another radio friendly unit shifter, aimed at the adult contemporary crowd who buys 75% of Christian music. But, as my wife is so fond of telling me, wrong again.
Centered around the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, White Flag is a rock record. Groves’ approach is grittier, with vocals that sound world weary at some moments, and filled with a raspy conviction at others. His goal here is not a devotion to religion, but to true discipleship.
«What’s Wrong With This World?» breaks new ground, almost defying its title, when it points out that that people are what’s wrong. People, who are helpless to live their lives without sin, and are incapable of bringing anything to God that is of value:
“Nothing in my hand I bring/ Simply to the cross I cling/ Naked, come to thee for dress/ Helpless, look to thee for grace/ Foul, I to the fountain fly/ Wash me, Saviour, or I die.”
«Sad Song» is exactly as advertised. «Hummingbird» opens with a Nickelback guitar riff, settles in at a completely different place, than revisits the opening chord in its chorus. «Heaven Hang On» is a portrait of urban despair, and «Only» seems destined to be the single.
Groves’ vocals are as rough edged as a splintery board, combining the pathos of Springsteen’s acoustic material, and the passion of the Alarm‘s Mike Peters. On «Peace Has Broken Out», though, the song and tone is much more John Lennon – in fact, the song is very reminiscent of Lennon’s «Happy Christmas (War is Over)».
White Flag teaches me a few things. First, never judge an artist by his previous material. Second, the songs here are a good lead in to studying the Beatitudes, and gaining a new perspective, and some new insight as to what Christ may have meant. If you’ve been on the fence with Shaun Groves, this is the album you’ve been waiting for him to do. [Brian A. Smith, The Phantom Tollbooth, 21 May 2005]
Upbeat, gritty, electric guitar-driven songs aren’t what you usually get with albums by established singer/songwriters but here the Texan songsmith manages to add guts and rhythm to his wistful lyricism without becoming another anonymous purveyor of pop rock. From the opener «What’s Wrong With This World» that sounds uncannily like a Jimmy Eat World song, to the wistful man-with-acoustic-guitar closer «Narrow», this is great stuff and more than one critic have suggested this is Shaun’s best yet. Lyrically, Shaun continues to expand as a mature expounder of God’s word. In a songwriting age where many Christian songs are shallow slogans and banal truisms, it’s great to find a Nashville CCM artist who contributes real spiritual insight. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, September 2005]
> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/white-flag/314530458)
CD tracklist:
01. What’s Wrong With This World
02. Sad Song
03. Amen
04. White Flag
05. Crave
06. Hummingbird
07. Heaven Hang On
08. Bless The Lord
09. Only
10. My Enemy
11. Peace Has Broken Out
12. Narrow
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[youtube_sc url=”Dm694GeArXA” title=”Shaun Groves – White Flag Electronic Press Kit (Interview)” autohide=”1″ rel=”0″]
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