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Urban Rescue
Wild Heart



Genre(s): Pop / Worship
Album length: 5 tracks: 20 minutes, 11 seconds
Street Date: May 6, 2016


 
  
WildHeart
READER RATING:  WildHeart
– / 5.0 (0 votes)

This summer, the term "superhero movie fatigue" is being bandied about by those who talk about movies, be they professional movie critics or arm chair reviewers, to talk about that theoretical moment when mass audiences will finally tune out and stop going to superhero movies en mass. With wave after wave of these films hitting the multiplexes each summer, will there be a sea-change moment when audiences move on to the next kind of film because of a hyped, yet sub-par and overly-familiar movie?

The California based Urban Rescue, the first signee on Rend Collective's new "Rend Family Records," might represent a test case for "worship music fatigue" in the Christian Music world. Their first full-length major label release, Wild Heart is an interesting case study on where the general direction of the genre of worship music is heading, and what audiences will go along with before demanding something else.

That's not to say that Wild Heart is a sub-par album by any means, it's just that most of the album sounds like what worship music circa 2016 is expected to sound like. It contains many good moments of honest and well-crafted songwriting, it's just that there is an unfortunate "sameness" to much of the music in its sonic blueprint and songwriting structures. The nice moments are plentiful throughout the beginning of the album. With hints of Britpop artists like Keane, Coldplay, Bastille and Snow Patrol, "Alive In You" starts off the album with a nice gang vocal and a pleasant melody that ebbs and flows with intensity. Second song "Never Stop" features a neat, swirly keyboard line and a bouncy beat, and the third song and title track has a nifty synthesizer and vocal melody entwining throughout the track. The album's best moment, "Song Of My Father," is a slow-builder that features the album's best lyrical turn, spinning a cool reverse-image of God The Father singing to His people, "I hear your melody / I hear your symphony / there is nothing louder than the song of my father."

Wild Heart needs a lot more of the creative juices that birthed "Song Of My Father;" the rest of the album is a bit of a "paint-by-numbers" affair until "Kaleidoscope" mixes up the flow with its dancy beat. Ending number "Up From The Ashes," with its spoken word / rapped interludes, is an interesting mash-up of styles, and it mostly works well.

With some nice individual moments of creativity alongside a few more dull ones, Wild Heart shows Urban Rescue is a band that has it in them to create a truly unique work of praise the next few times around, worthy of the song that the Lord is singing to His people.




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Record Label: Rend Family Records / Sparrow Records
Album length: 11 tracks: 45 minutes, 56 seconds
Street Date: May 6, 2016
Buy It: Amazon.com
Buy It: Amazon Music (MP3)

  1. Alive In You (4:14)
  2. Never Stop (3:58)
  3. Wild Heart (3:41)
  4. Open Hands (3:23)
  5. His Name (4:41)
  6. Song Of My Father (4:07)
  7. Magnificent (4:52)
  8. Recreate (4:34)
  9. Fling Wide! Fling Wide! (3:22)
  10. Kaleidoscope (3:57)
  11. Up From The Ashes (5:11)

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This Friday, October 30
ALBUMS
Beach Chapel A Special Place In Heaven (independent)
Kirk Franklin I Am What I Am [Uptown]
Lucy Gray By The Water - EP (independent)
The Hyssongs We've Got a Song to Sing [Horizon]
The Oak Ridge Boys Buried Treasures [Lightning Rod]
Olive Shoots Music Longing and Loss (independent)
Various Artists Songs Inspired By The Chosen: Season 1-5 [Capitol CMG]
Vomitorial Corpulence Martyrdomical Symphonanthem [Rottweiler]

SINGLES
2 Lane Summer How Do I Live - Single [Quartz Hill]
1K Phew & Timbaland Seven Trumpets - Single [Reach]
Bethel Music Greatness (feat. Aubree Archibeck, Martin Smith) - Single [Bethel]
Gracie Binion & Mitch Wong Gloria - Single [BEC]
Lauren Daigle with Preservation Hall Jazz Band Sleigh Ride & Go Tell It On The Mountain - Double Single [Interscope/Capitol]
Will Ellis My Yesterday’s Are Gone - Single (independent)
Forrest Frank What a Life - Single [River House]
goodwill., GodFearin & Xay Hill IN MOTION - Single [Syntax]
Amy Grant To Be Together (feat. CAIN) [Capitol CMG/AG]
I.A.N. Pray For Me - Single [Syntax]
Laura Kaczor Wrapped in Love - Single [Upstream]
Lady Audri My Body - Single [Syntax]
Leem of the Earth The Cavern of Dark - Single [Velvet Blue]
LOUDWERX Bass Go Boom (feat. Magic & Bird, Andy Mineo) - Single [Artist Influence]
Malcolm Rue & A Tribe Apart Omemma - Single [Syntax]
Kevi Morse Is it too late? - Single [Syntax]
Nai and J Follow - Single (independent)
New Wine Worship For Jesus - Single (independent)
Lloyd Nicks Glory (Angels We Have Heard) - Single [Curb]
Blessing Offor Broken Me (from The Chosen Album) - Single [Capitol CMG]
Hunter Plake It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas - Single [BEC]
Chelsea Plank Make Me Willing - Single [Provident/Sony]
Razzie & OnBeatMusic Brick After Brick - Single [Syntax]
Jordan St. Cyr Guide Me Home - Single [BEC]
Carly Ann Taylor How Glorious (Amazing Grace) - Single [Curb]
TobyMac The Hard Times - Single [Capitol CMG]
Phil Wickham SOS (Don’t Let Me Go) - Single [Capitol CMG]
Aaron Williams Abide (Christmas) [feat. Hope Darst] - Single [Provident/Sony]
ZOEgirl I Still Believe - Single (independent)

This Saturday, October 31
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Chaotic Resemblance Move - Single (independent)

Next Friday, November 6
ALBUMS
Big Daddy Weave It's Time For Christmas - EP [Curb]
Hillside Recording & Addy Prado Come and See - EP (independent)
Meadows DESERT WALKER (CD) [Facedown Records]
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Chris Tomlin Good News Of Great Joy (Christmas Songs Of Worship) [Capitol CMG]
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SINGLES
Olivia Lane Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Single [BEC]
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VINYL
Meadows DESERT WALKER Vinyl [Facedown]

For all release dates, click here!