Debra Black “God in Every Season” Album Review

Prime Cuts: God in Every Season, Be Free, You Go Before ('Tis So Sweet)

Given the large swath of Scripture song writers can find their muse in, it's tragic that only a handful of passages of Holy Writ are ever expounded in our modern worship songs.  There are the standard go-to sections that most novices would consult, including the Psalms, sections of Isaiah, a couple of chapters in Revelation and a few narrative montages of Jesus' life lifted from the four Gospels.  The remaining of the Bible remains relatively untouched.  Who would have thought that a worship song could ever emerge out of the book of Ecclesiastes?  Yet, worship leader and song writer Debra Black in utilizing Ecclesiastes as the germane idea in her song "God in Every Season" underscores a deep seated theological truth.  All of Scripture, regardless of how obscure a pericope may appear, is designed to enrich our vocabulary in our worship of God.

Despite only being in her twenties, Debra Black has pioneered "Worship on the Square," an organization bringing the church body together in the city center to worship God and bring awareness to social causes in the city.  In May, 2012, she released her debut single entitled "More Than Enough" (which is also included in this album).  And now she is fully pursuing her dream to lead people in worship and is releasing her full-length album August, 12, 2014. Over the past year she entered the studio and started recording her first album, "God in Every Season."

Though "God in Every Season" is dubbed as a worship record, the album does slither through a labyrinth of styles.  With its hand clapping rhythms and its stomping nu-soul feel that calls to mind Rend Collective, album opener "Be Free" speaks of the freedom God brings to us in Christ Jesus.  Sounding like Hillsong's Brooke Fraser, "More than Enough" has a stripped down acoustic feel cum a deep soulful spirituality that has a way of instilling a sense of Holy awe into our souls.  Speaking of Brooke Fraser, Black tackles the Fraser-written Hillsong staple "Hosanna."   Black takes us on a bluesy trip into God's presence on one of the best worship songs ever to be written in the last decade that is not afraid to utilize the potent eschatological images in Scripture that speak of Christ's saving power.

Even when the tempo decelerates with the worship ballads such as "You Won't Relent" and "You Go Before ('Tis So Sweet)," Black doesn't pander away from her firm grasp of Scriptural insights.  Those with a keening acumen to Scripture would appreciate how Psalm 23 as well as the hymn "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus" are all interwoven seamlessly into "You Go Before ('Tis So Sweet)."  And never one to stymied in one style of worship, "Freedom" has some fancy airy post-modern drum sound that gives worship a contemporary feel.  Though this is just her debut album, "God in Every Season" is a very revealing record.  It shows the depth of artistry and potency in Black; and such a dimension is not created by her mere cleverness.  Rather, it comes from a soul soaked in the richness of our Father's Word.    

 

 

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