Wincing at Light

So I’ve spent the last three days or so with downhere‘s new offering Ending is Beginning on my virtual turntable.  I am insane for this album.  I can’t even be coherent about it.  It feels groundbreaking.  It feels extraordinary.  And at the same time, it is downhere to the core.

Maybe this is just artistic maturity, I don’t know.  Buy this album.  Seriously.  Songs like “Beggar Who Gives Alms” will change the way you think about Christian music.  “Cathedral Made of People” is like a punch to the base of your skull (but in a good way).  It reminds me of a funky blend of Supernatural era dc Talk and Edge’s sonic riffs on The Unforgettable Fire.

Buy this album.  I mean it.

If you need something more convincing than my raving fanboy incoherency, there’s a splendid review in Christianity Today and an even better one from John Wofford at Soul-Audio.  (I’m also glad to see that someone other than me hears the Unforgettable Fire vibe on this record.)

I’ve believed for the last few years that downhere is the single most-overlooked band in the Christian contemporary market.  I still can’t even fathom this.  I can’t.  It makes me angry just to think about it.

If Ending is Beginning doesn’t finally grab people’s attention, I am giving up on our culture and concluding beyond all reasonable doubt that the world is full of idiots.  You don’t want that, and I don’t want to have to move into a musty cave and spend the rest of my life ranting bitterly about the decline of Western Civilization.

So do us both a favor:  Buy this album.

(I don’t know how long this will be up, but if you want a preview, you can hear a full album stream at http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/features/listeningparty4.asp.)