Jubilee

Description

Jubilee is the third album by the American pop/rock band Ten Shekel Shirt fronted by Lamont Hiebert, released on Rounder Records in 2008. The album was recorded by Paul Moak, Brent Milligan, Nick Lloyd, and Sean Moffitt at Smoakstack in Nashville, Tennessee; and at Firehouse12 in New Haven, Connecticut; with Milligan and band leader Lamont Hiebert producing. Mixed by Lee Bridges and Sean Moffitt.

After a five year break, singer/songwriter Lamont Hiebert and the assorted accompanists he calls Ten Shekel Shirt are back with ‘Jubilee’, an album that owes much of its content to Lamont’s work with the charity Love 146 which he co-founded in 2003 when the band took a break from music. The charity works towards ending child slavery and exploitation and has gained recognition from many including awards from GQ Magazine and a MySpace Impact award. Don’t be put off this album though by the heavy subject matter as with deft playing and intelligent songwriting a very strong message of hope is communicated all the way through. The title track is a prime example of this, being based on a true story of a young girl being released from the bonds of slavery. It is a mid-tempo pop/rock track which on top of the lyrics keeps things pretty upbeat. Musically and even vocally there are occasional similarities in style to Coldplay, especially noticeable in tracks like the aforementioned «You Rescue» and «Spark», but the lyrical content of ‘Jubilee’ elevates this above that bands miserablism. There are some more chilled tracks such as «En Garde» but I personally got more out of the slightly more upbeat material. This is certainly a worthy and welcome return for Ten Shekel Shirt. [Simon Redfern, Cross Rhythms, October 2008]

I must make an admission: Ten Shekel Shirt’s 2001 release, Much, is one of my top ten Christian albums of all time. It captured worship in a very simple and expressive way during a time when worship was being marketed to its extent. So when I had the chance to review their newest release, I had to jump at the chance.

Several things have changed since the debut album. First, after multiple personnel changes, lead singer/songwriter Lamont Hiebert is the only remaining “member.” For many bands, this kind of turnover could be detrimental to the quality of the overall sound. But luckily for Ten Shekel Shirt, Hiebert has always pretty much been the core “member.” He’s been the driving force both musically and lyrically since the beginning, and his influence is all over this project.

The second noticeable change is the purpose of the band. When their debut was released, their focus was primarily worship oriented music. Now their music has almost become a soundtrack to their activist spirit, specifically their work to abolish slavery. This activism led Hiebert to found Love146, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping end child slavery and exploitation.

Ten Shekel Shirt’s newest release is Jubilee. The growth of Hiebert as a musician and songwriter is measurably noticeable. These songs plant themselves with the listener, then swell from a dramatic whisper to a beautiful wall of sound. Hiebert has succeeded at giving each song its own life and allowed the production to compliment each individual track.

What is noticeably missing is the lyrical sermons that many other socially involved bands can’t help themselves from. While Ten Shekel Shirt finds their message to be very important, it doesn’t override the entire project. Activism makes an appearance, but also keeps its distance, which gives the rest of the project a very purposeful feel.

Ten Shekel Shirt is an example to other young bands to what musical progress should be. They continue to make great music that not only entertains, but also has the ambition to create actual change. [Shawn Dickinson, The Phantom Tollbooth, August 12, 2008]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/jubilee/503973274)

CD tracklist:

01. Jubilee
02. Surprised
03. Fragile
04. Spark
05. Higher Ground
06. En Garde
07. Wartime Lullaby
08. Love From a Lesser God
09. You Rescue
10. Daylight
11. It’s Slavery

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