Chris Taylor

by Jenny Bennett

Newcomer Chris Taylor brings a unique flavor of rock, pop and breakbeat to the Christian music scene.

It’s historically and lyrically appropriate that Take Me Anywhere is the album’s first radio single as Chris describes it as the song that marks the beginning of his career. “That’s the song that took me anywhere,” laughs Taylor. “The lyrics remind me of the men who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus. They weren’t looking for him at that moment, but after the encounter, their hearts were burning, and it changed the course of their lives.” (Read his full bio)

The direction Chris felt in the beginning has led him to create an album that has so much more to discover than just its first radio hit.

One really nice thing about the project is its ability to evoke imagery. Turn Me Around transports you to another place – where exactly is hard to pinpoint, but it sort of feels like being in a vintage European film; then the organ brings you back into a traditional church worship setting. As the song takes you from place to place, fittingly the lyrics are a plea to God to “turn me around; I want everything you are”.

Made For You brings the listener back to a more traditional American acoustic guitar, but still it’s unlike anything you’ve heard before. Subtle harmony in the chorus avoids a singsong tone while adding musical depth. A silent rest before the final chorus is repeated brings drama to the way it concludes with violin and electric guitar not yet heard up to that point in the song.

One of the best songs on the album is Atmosphere. Turning the tables a bit from Take Me Anywhere, in which Chris describes how he’s willing to go wherever God leads him, the softer and more dramatic Atmosphere acknowledges God’s ability to “rearrange my world” and leaves me wanting to look up into the stars on a clear night and contemplate the magnitude of it all.

I hear two more songs that could easily become catchy hits: You See Through Me and I Don’t Need to Know. Lyrically You See Through Me goes a step further from Atmosphere, reminding the listener that God knows all there is to know about a person: “Even the darkest parts that I hide. I can’t pull the wool over your eyes.”

And the words of I Don't Need to Know are a great example of the true praise & worship nature of the project: 

I don’t need to know all the things that I know you know
Just the fact that you loved me before I was born
Every piece of me that I lose along the way
You pick them up and make me new

Another hallmark of the album is its continuity. As you listen from song to song the order just makes sense and it’s like going along with the songwriter through different stages of spiritual growth. And nothing could really describe those stages better than a song like Symphony, which goes through the continuous ups and downs from doubt to revelation that often defines the Christian walk. (In desperate need of a shakedown // A blowing down of all the ways that I try // To talk you into a corner until you look like me // But when I finally see what you see // There’s a symphony // I hear a symphony.)

Speak to Me in Mysteries, while a bit, yes, mysterious in imagery, somehow has the overarching effect of communicating a very real kinship in Christ. Yet that message could be disguised by the song’s trippy sound that would blend in nicely with what’s heard on college students’ iPods everywhere.

There’s a continuity musically too that gives Chris a defined sound without boxing him into a corner. Song after song he delivers an original work of art that’s both surprising and spiritually fulfilling. For a first album I’m very impressed, and I look forward to seeing where this young artist’s career takes him...could be anywhere.

MySpace
BEC Recordings

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