Songs of Common Prayer

Description

Songs of Common Prayer is the full-length debut album by the American singer and songwriter Greg LaFollette, independently released on Late Model Leadfoot Music in October 2018.

The lyrics for this album are either taken directly from or inspired by the Book of Common Prayer. The Book of Common Prayer, written and compiled in the 16th century by Thomas Cranmer, was a centerpiece in the decades following the English Reformation and is still used widely across many denominations all around the world. It offers a structure for corporate worship services as well as daily devotion and structured Bible reading.

Nashville-based singer/songwriter and producer Greg LaFollette’s first full album continues in the unobtrusive generic vein of his debut EP ‘Do Not Destroy’ with a collection of prayer-themed songs which stay in safe waters thematically, lyrically and stylistically. Employing the kind of mid-tempo acoustic guitar-led sound that has graced countless Nashville CCM releases over the years, tracks like «World Without End», «Most Merciful God» and «Hosanna In The Highest» are virtually indistinguishable from each other and much more diversity is needed to allow LaFollette’s output to stand out in what is a very crowded marketplace. Nonetheless, around the half way mark, the gentle-voiced singer partially ditches his default sound and goes organic for the rest of the album with the simply stunning «We Cry Mercy» – a piano/voice duet with the wonderful Sara Groves – and the self-explanatory «Prayer After Communion» standing alongside «Lighten Our Darkness» and the cautiously experimental «Benediction» as songs of note. [Lins Honeyman, Cross Rhythms, March 2020]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/songs-of-common-prayer/1438535590)

CD tracklist:

01. World Without End – 2:38
02. Most Merciful God (feat. Taylor Leonhardt) – 2:50
03. Hosanna in the Highest – 3:11
04. Mystery of Faith (feat. Sarah Masen) – 2:56
05. The Lord’s Prayer – 2:21
06. We Cry Mercy (feat. Sara Groves) – 3:03
07. Prayer After Communion – 3:20
08. Blessed Be God – 3:27
09. Lighten Our Darkness – 4:14
10. Benediction – 4:08

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