Matt Papa
The imaginative arrangements and emotional creativity displayed on Your Kingdom Come is bound to place Matt Papa on the map – even more so than his last effort, You Are Good. That first release landed Papa on a couple of impressive compilations – one being Rick Warren’s Invitation and the 2007 WOW Worship disc, featuring “You Are Good” and “Unto the One” respectively.
On this new chapter, Papa takes a chapter out of the David Crowder book of worship disc organization (which took a chapter out of every rap CD made) with numerous interludes. All told there are five here, which makes Your Kingdom Come look like it takes up more room on your hard drive than it really does. Yet it’s these interludes that provide some of the best material on the album, especially the quick “So Come Reign…”
Many tracks on Your Kingdom Come strike the listener as no different than what you will find on most other decently produced worship albums. And, if anything, Papa’s voice can become so earnest that you wonder when the other girl jeans-clad hipsters are hiding or why he’s not playing in a band with a number in the title. But once you get past both of those issues – which for the first, how much more territory can be covered by a worship leader, really – there are a few gems here to really enjoy.
“No One Else” finds Papa at his vocal best. His energetic, emotional delivery fits perfectly on this subdued-turned-frenetic-turned-subdued track. The song does feature some typical cliché phrases, but King David has been using them for centuries now, so I figure some copying isn’t all bad.
“Hallelujah Our God Reigns” is easily the best track here and is an easy radio single choice if anyone is servicing such things to the proper outlets. This will also become an instant live favorite with young and old alike. The raw riffs here are really just fantastic and the melody sears even with a simple statement of the glory of God. “To The Least of These” rides a Euro-pop rhythm and arrangement while Papa sings much needed lyrics about worship making an actual difference in this word.
In many ways, this is just another worship disc. But if you’re this far, you’re already looking for a new disc in this genre anyway. And for the gems present here, you could definitely do a lot worse than Your Kingdom Come. The energy and emotion present here cannot be easily conjured and it’s exciting to find a disc like this.
Matt Conner is the Editor in Chief of Soul-Audio.com. He would give himself a 5/10 for this article.
Friday Jan 23rd, 2009 • View all posts by Matt Conner • View all posts in Album Reviews
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This is one of my favorite albums. Of course, that’s a bit biased since Matt is one of my favorite musicians.
This seems obvious to me as a classically trained musician, but Matt’s grasp of music theory brings his music a sizable cut above most of the worship music available. His use of the ‘church modes’ and creative use of secondary chords and intelligent progressions make this album a delight for the musically trained. In addition, he has a way of working some significant theological ideas into otherwise simply rockin’ music (like the list of attributes of God in “Hallelujah, Our God Reigns.”
More than anything, I like Matt because his heart is following after God. I have personally had some email communication with him, and have read a bunch of his writings and seen his Youtube vids – he wants to serve God and people with all his heart. It’s not about money or fame to him, as far as I can tell.
For instance, I ordered the Hymns CD from their store at the same time as I ordered the worship EP. Only one of the CDs came, so I emailed and asked about it. Their attitude in responding was great – they took responsibility and shipped me a new CD free of charge, and not only that, they recommended that I keep the lost CD should it show up, or get it to someone who would be blessed by it. It was refreshing.
So bottom line – I love this CD. No One Else is an amazing piece of music!!! Can’t say that enough. And I’m excited to see someone who isn’t about the music, or the “music industry,” but is about God.
Does it Resonate with you?