Street Date: Feb. 23
The Canadian-based quartet Starfield have been playing music professionally for nearly a decade now, and ever since signing with Sparrow Records have been releasing a consistent flow of their unique, but listener friendly rock/worship music. Now in early 2010, they are introducing their newest effort, "The Saving One" to an ever-increasing fan base, both in their home country and the United States.
The album begins with an upbeat title track, featuring lead singer Tim Neufeld's strong vocals and a Mat Redman-esque chorus that will uplift fans and have them singing right along from the start. Clearly continuing a praise trend, this record follows closely in their previous album's footsteps, creating radio ready tunes, that will no doubt attract some attention to this often times less-hyped band. One thing this group truly accomplishes with this record is incorporating some rock feelings into a mostly arm-raising pop album. "Declaration of Dependence" is a great example of this, with some gritty guitars and big drum beats, this is what a lot of Starfield fans will be looking for, and it's just enough variance to keep you on your toes throughout the 40-minute playing time.
About halfway through the tempo slows down a bit, and it's only for the better. The next couple of tunes carry about 90% of the disc's material, as far as depth, and they push the boundaries lyrically beyond Christian music's often used cliches. "Something to Say" is probably the best song on the CD, breaking the fast-paced trend and masterfully captures the feelings of a doubting believer with it's words and melody alike. With a touch of Jon Foreman fused with some Rush of Fools styling, the simplicity of the production only helps the emotion and heart felt lyrics to stand out in the end. The follow up, "Absolutely" is another honest track, the chorus stating: Jesus You have me completely/every breath that I breathe/I am absolutely in love/Jesus I am yours forever/all of me surrenders/I am absolutely in love with You.
The rest of the music is full of the same sounds and words overall, but even in those you can see the depth intended here, and it's enjoyable in an upbeat sense. But though this is probably one of their better efforts, it seems they could have put a little more time into it, and come back with something better. "Top Of Our Lungs" is a prime cut, with a raw edge and some electronic drafts, if they come up more like this in the future than they will be making big leaps musically, and certainly toward real success. But while they don't attain the same amount of excellence many of their Sparrow colleges have achieved of late years, they're still cranking out worth-while albums that satisfy fans, and will keep them in the league with many of Christian music's best.
Written by Christian Lingner, 2/25/10
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