Description
Just Getting Started: An Acoustic Reflection on 20 Years of Music is an album by the Canadian singer and songwriter Carolyn Arends, independently released on 2B Records in September 2015. The album was recorded and mixed by Roy Salmond of Salmond & Mulder fame at Whitewater Productions with Carolyn Arends and Salmond producing.
Featuring Carolyn Arends on vocals and guitars with Spencer Capier providing mandolin, mandola, violin, bouzouki, guitars, and vocals, and with producer Roy Salmond providing piano, accordion, Wurlitzer, organ, lap steel, electric guitars, percussion, and vocals.
In honour of the 20th anniversary of the release of my first CD, we’ve recorded a project featuring acoustic takes on 11 fan-voted favourites, plus a new song entitled «Just Getting Started». – Carolyn Arends
Just Getting Started: An Acoustic Reflection on 20 Years of Music is a landmark album in Arends’ richly storied career. Featuring 11 re-imagined makeovers of songs she has released, the album also features one brand new song, the title cut «Just Getting Started». However, this is far from your typical retrospective compilation. Rather, the 11 re-makes were lovingly voted on by her legion of fans. This means they are not necessarily her biggest hits or her radio singles. Rather, what you get here is a wide smorgasbord of tracks that range from her debut album for Reunion Records, I Can Hear You, in 1995 all the way to 2009’s Love Was Here First. Ardent fans are thus happy to know that some of her lesser known gems from her later works now lie side by side with some of her biggest charting hits such as «Seize the Day» and «Happy».
While many artists put out their best foot with their first couple of releases, Arends has saved the best for now. The title cut «Just Getting Started» is easily one of Arends’ best songs yet. With an infectious melody augmented by warm guitar tones, «Just Getting Started» is a stellar treatise of how eternity affects how the way we live now. «Seize the Day» explains why Arends is such a darling in Christian music. Never one to just linger on platitudes, «Seize the Day» offers up a heartfelt narrative. From how a doctor leaves a 6-digit salary to serve as a missionary to how a girl abandons her fears in order to pursue her dreams of being an author, «Seize the Day» teaches us what it means to live out for God. Further, songs such as «Happy», «Do We Dare», and «In Between» not only thrive on Arends’ attention paid to details, but they often present truths that are unconventional, provoking, thoughtful, and deeply personal.
Although this is not a congregational worship record per se, lots of worshipful moments abound. With copious examples garnered from the Gospels of how Jesus uses his hands to dispense His grace, we can’t help but worship after hearing the string-laden «In Good Hands». «Under the Gaze», with its unusual chord progression, is another worship-inducing ballad that will get folks thanking God for his providence. While many acoustic folk-based albums can fall into some soporific moments, Arends is careful to mix up the tempo a little with the lilting «Something to Give». Don’t miss «The Last Word»; here Arends is at her vocal best as she belts with an understated passion how Christ’s love will ultimately prevail in the last days.
Fans who have faithfully followed Arends’ career will be delighted to walk down memory lane again with these gems performed with more nuance and a less cluttered backing than their previous incarnations. Newer converts will certainly be awed by the songs’ stark honesty and theological depth. [Shawn McLaughlin, Christian Musician, November/December 2015]
> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/just-getting-started-an-acoustic-reflection-on-20/1415164820)
CD tracklist:
01. Just Getting Started – 4:40
02. Happy – 3:42
03. Seize the Day – 5:55
04. Under the Gaze – 4:36
05. New Years Day – 3:47
06. Reaching – 4:36
07. In Between – 3:40
08. Do We Dare – 3:56
09. Something to Give – 2:47
10. Father, Thy Will Be Done – 3:24
11. In Good Hands – 4:24
12. The Last Word – 4:22
Note: Available at Bandcamp: https://carolynarends.bandcamp.com/album/just-getting-started-an-acoustic-reflection-on-20-years-in-music
[youtube_sc url=”” playlist=”e8SnFZusmfc,_gyX9iFQyek,0woreg7ffPY,CJpslToke-I,9BwzbWyvdNE,oYLC_g7NFvQ,aifYm9M7eZI,F3K4LCiJSxM,LVKciuaun8w,ManV0GKIPyk,AvDsqVgmHdY,TtaFbau44ig” title=”Carolyn Arends, Just Getting Started – Just Getting Started + Happy + Seize the Day + Under the Gaze + New Years Day + Reaching + In Between + Do We Dare + Something to Give + Father, Thy Will Be Done + In Good Hands + The Last Word” autohide=”1″ rel=”0″]
[youtube_sc url=”PE5Nezvwmmc” title=”Carolyn Arends – Father Thy Will Be Done (Acoustic) – Lyric Video” autohide=”1″ rel=”0″]
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.