Artist Info:Discography Album length: 13 tracks Street Date: January 23, 2007
Somehow, worship bands have been given a stigma- a box in which to comfortably reside away from creativity and imagination.
David Crowder Band and others in recent years have freely begun to explore the art in praise. Enter a young band called Something
Like Silas. SLS began to color outside the lines as well until 2006, when with only two of the original members remaining, they changed their
name and Future of Forestry was born.
The sound is an odd, sometimes melancholic petri dish of modern praise music and just about every single indie rock sensibility
there is. Songs with simple structure are layered to feel deeper than they really are. Pervasive piano melodies, synth effects and
distorted guitars… but if stripped of the garnish, I think some of these tunes might be easier to work into a Sunday morning service
than even some of Crowder's stuff. But it's precisely in those subtle flavors that FOF sets themselves aside from other bands of
comparable scheme.
Standout tracks like "All I Want" and the band-defining "Gazing" really give a sense of the epic theater of sound Future of Forestry is
obviously trying to obtain. They don't fully realize it this time around, but the obvious influences of Mute Math and U2 give the hope
of future polish. The album opener 'Open Wide' reveals another facet, one of energy and all-around catchiness. Everything rounds out
nicely by employing beautifully soft, rainy-day asides like "If You Find Her," before settling into what is truly the spiritual foundation-
the grand worship song "Stay Beside Me."
Even though some of the better tracks from the last year's self-titled EP are missing, Twilight is a worthy re-imagining
of the explorative, artistic nature of Something Like Silas. It's not a rehashing of old formulas, as any fan of the former will tell you.
The potential is there, and even though the worshipper's heart is in it, it never seems preachy. The often introspective writing is
solid, the musicianship is imaginative, but overall, it just seems to be a taste of what's to come. It's like the listeners are given
worthy glimpses of grandness in preparation for the real thing. I suppose that's really what worship is anyway- a splinter of what - and Who - is to come...
- Review date: 1/23/07, written by David Goodman
Record Label: Credential Recordings
Album length: 13 tracks
Street Date: January 23, 2007
Buy It:JfH Music Store
Record Label: Credential Recordings
