Review: Mike Crawford, “Songs from Jacob’s Well”

November 20th, 2008 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (2) |

During my time at the Reclaiming Paul conference in Kansas City, I was fortunate to meet Jacob’s Well’s Worship/Arts Pastor, Mike Crawford. Mike and his friends recently released a collection of original worship songs called Mike Crawford and his Secret Siblings present Songs from Jacob’s Well, Volumes I & II: Even the Darkness Will Not Be Dark To You. In one of the posts from the conference, I said,

Just as a teaser, I think his album is one of the best worship albums in the past 5 years, if not the best.

After a solid month of listening to Songs from Jacob’s Well, I don’t find that statement to be hyperbolic.

The first thing you’ll notice after popping in the first disc (it’s a 2-disc set) is that Songs from Jacob’s Well is a worship album unlike anything you’ve ever heard. It’s an undeniable deviation from the the hyper-produced CCM worship that sells like hot-cakes these days, and this is its very strength. One of the first questions people usually ask when you tell them about a new band or album is “Who does it sound like?” and my reply in regards to Songs from Jacob’s Well usually goes something like, “Well, it’s like Copeland, The Decemberists, and David Crowder Band (of the A Collision variety) got together and made an indie worship album.” A beautiful worship album.

Every track in the collection is an experience in itself. Singing lead vocals, Mike is accompanied by a female who sings unexpected, charming harmonies. Although a track may begin unassumingly, with a standard pop-rock feel — like “I Know the Plans” on disc two — it ends up with a chorus of brass bellowing behind a buzzing guitars and a driving beat. Heck, in “Words to Build A Life On,” a female opera singer makes a cameo, and somehow it works. Songs from Jacob’s Well is a tapestry, crafted with layer upon layer of pure musical beauty.

Although the style of the music is idiosyncratic, the lyrical subject matter of the songs are straight out of the Bible, sometimes even word-for-word. For example, the song “Magnificat” is simply the text of Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), with some phrases repeated here and there, set to music. This is nothing new, I know, but it’s actually kind of rare in contemporary worship music these days, and — best of all — it doesn’t come off as cheesy. It’s honest and vulnerable.

The final song, “Words to Build A Life On”, is worth the price of the whole album. Again, I use no irony or hyperbole when I say it may be one of the single greatest worship songs ever written.¹ I shed tears the first time I listened to the eight-minute track, and have many times since. The song is epic. Musically, lyrically, spiritually, and emotionally. If you don’t own the album, take time to read the lyrics to this song — it will speak to you directly, I promise. Also, it’s the only worship song I’ve ever heard that uses the word “freaking” (and uses it well, I might add).

Bottom line: Buy this album immediately. If you’re a worship leader, try to buy it sooner than immediately. I could go on and on about Song’s from Jacob’s Well, but it will do you better to just experience it yourself. Go ahead and listen to a few of the songs on Mike’s MySpace page.

P.S. I had the opportunity to interview Mike about his personal story, Songs from Jacob’s Well, and some other things, and the interview will appear on this blog in several parts during the next week. Keep your eyes out!

1. Please keep in mind that this statement is entirely subjective. ↩