Artist:
Title:
Refuge
Type:
Album
Released:
17 Oct 2010 (US), 18 Oct 2010 (UK)
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Your Rating:
Review
Ryan Griffith is the worship director at Exchange Church, Belfast and has been leading worship for over eight years. His latest album Refuge was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, produced by Paul Mills (Third Day, Robin Mark, Bluetree) and some of the songs on this collection are written with Aaron Boyd (Bluetree). From that piece of information you know that this album is gong to be a strong and powerful one.
The album kicks off with what sounds like a mixture between the start music of a news program and the psychedelic crescendo of the sound from The Beatles...
Read More Ryan Griffith is the worship director at Exchange Church, Belfast and has been leading worship for over eight years. His latest album Refuge was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, produced by Paul Mills (Third Day, Robin Mark, Bluetree) and some of the songs on this collection are written with Aaron Boyd (Bluetree). From that piece of information you know that this album is gong to be a strong and powerful one.
The album kicks off with what sounds like a mixture between the start music of a news program and the psychedelic crescendo of the sound from The Beatles A Day In a Life. This was a bit of a shock and something I don't think I have explained very well, but trust me on this Can't Contain is a brilliant start to any album, with its powerful drums which burst into life after a minute and a solid chorus of "You Were, You Are, You Always Will be" which all makes the perfect start to any album.
You always expect a lot from the album title tracks. It is usually the song that the rest of the album is built around, the big power anthem of the album. Refuge is no exception to this trend. This song grew on me, at first it was just another album song but after a few listens I now can understand why people are loving this title track, with powerful vocals and a strong theme running through it.
Ryan has managed to produce a great set of songs on this album, songs full of strong worshipful lyrics. Ryan is a talented songwriter and Refuge is full of well written indie pop worship songs. This style comes through especially during You Reign and Joy Unending, both having big powerful choruses and some clever musicianship which is also strong throughout the other tracks.
Faithful to The End is a piano ballad with some lovely chord progressions, the chorus in this song is soft and beautiful, it talks of God's love being with us always, no matter what. There is also some pleasant orchestral work on this song which adds to the beauty of the atmosphere on this true standout track.
The fast paced drums and guitars rejoin the album during Break The Day. I was worried this was going to be just another mid tempo praise song, but Break The Day has a heavier gutsy edge, the chorus of "Dance, Dance, Dance for your Glory" really is a sing along song. Yet for me you will either love this song or hate this song, there's a sort of marmite affect with this song. If I was putting my cards on the table now, I would have to say that the song is only just edging towards the love side.
Celebrate kicks off in a fast paced style, one thing that slightly annoyed me during this song was the riff throughout the first verse, it distracted and didn't really add to the song, but that is just a preference thing. Celebrate had a similar tone and style to some of the praise songs that Yfriday were producing from their last few albums, hard hitting, guitars going worship. For me this wasn't one of my favorite tracks off this album.
To be fair to Ryan, he has produced songs on this album that aren't the normal cliched worship songs. One of the hardest things as a songwriter is to write fast, upbeat worship songs that can be sung by everyone without making them too rocky and heavy that the majority will not like. Ryan has had a good go at doing this and has done it very well.
Ryan Griffith ends the album with the atmospheric How Victorious which begins as an acoustic guitar slowly building with added layers of piano playing a simple yet effective melody over the top. The lyrics "The Cross show us, how you love us" set the tone of this intimate worship song. What started off as a gentle track, ends up building into an out and out praise song. The drums and electric guitar taking the song to whole new level which then leads into an effective guitar solo. The song again then steps down a few gears to end in a similar place to where it started with Ryan singing over and over "Hallelujah", a great way to end a fantastic album.
Review by Jono Davies
LTTM Rating 4 out of 5 Stars
Standout Tracks
How Victorious
Faithful To The EndÂ
Can't Contain Articles
Worship leader Ryan Griffith will release his debut album 'Refuge' on 18th October. As Director of Worship at Exchange Church, Belfast (home to fellow worship leaders Bluetree), Ryan has developed as a songwriter and worship…
