Various Artists

By Debra Akins for GospelMusicChannel.com

It’s not often that we get to observe a true milestone recording in the making, but the efforts of Delirious frontman Martin Smith have been well-documented over the past year. And with the release of CompassionArt: Creating Freedom From Poverty, there’s no question Smith (with the help of a few well-known friends) has pulled off a major feat by all music industry standards.

Having shared the stage with his Delirious bandmates in front of millions of fans over the past decade, Smith found himself sitting in five-star hotel rooms, while many of those he was reaching out to, particularly in his international travels, were living in slums and dealing with some of the most shocking realities of their poverty-ravaged locales. Unable to reconcile his comfortable life with that of “the least of these,” Smith decided to give back what he had – a microphone, a platform and the ability to write songs – and asked 11 friends to join him.

It just so happens that Smith’s friends are some of the biggest worship songwriters in Christian music – Michael W. Smith, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Steven Curtis Chapman, Paul Baloche, Tim Hughes, Darlene Zschech, Israel Houghton, Graham Kendrick, Andy Park and Stu G (Delirious). They each cleared their schedules for a week and joined Smith on a retreat in Scotland, UK, where they collaborated on a collection of 22 different songs, many of which were later recorded at the famed Abbey Road studio in London, and some in Nashville. Seven guest vocalists – Kirk Franklin, Amy Grant, Joel Houston, Leeland Mooring, Christy Nockels, tobyMac and CeCe Winans – also joined the songwriters to sing on the album, completing a pretty outstanding lineup.

Smith described the songwriting retreat as a “truly pinch-myself moment,” but what’s even more impressive is that each of these artists agreed not to take a dime for any of the songs created in their collaborations that week. Instead, 100 percent of the publishing royalties collected in the lifetime of these songs will go to charity. Fifty percent of the proceeds will go to the individual songwriters’ projects of choice, and the other half will go to four charitable projects agreed upon by all of the songwriters together.

As you might imagine, with such a diverse group of artists who represent different genres and styles, CompassionArt is collection of songs ranging anywhere from bold, sweeping anthems to simple, familiar choruses. What Smith and these writers hope is that congregations around the globe will latch on to these songs and introduce them frequently into their worship services. And there are definitely some congregational gems here that worship leaders will no doubt pick up on immediately.

The current single “King of Wonders,” performed beautifully by Redman, Hughes and Houston (Hillsong) is definitely going to strike the right chord with its memorable melody and Brit-pop flair. Released to radio early last year, the album’s first single, “So Great,” is another homerun hit. Michael W. Smith and Israel Houghton are joined by Christy Nockels’ soaring vocals on this majestic anthem that builds to a sweeping end.

Driving guitar numbers like “Lead Me To The Rock,” featuring Baloche and the Lakewood Choir; “Come to the Water” with Tomlin, Martin Smith, Franklin and the Watoto Children’s Choir; or “We Won’t Stay Silent” featuring Hughes and Chapman, are easily singable and add a bolt of energy to the first half of the album. But in my opinion, some of the strongest songs are found towards the middle and end of the project, beginning with the melodic Amy Grant-Michael W. Smith duet “Highly Favoured,” and leading into one of the most surprising tracks – the bluesy-gospel “Fill My Cup.” Performed to near-perfection by Martin Smith and CeCe Winans (joined by Lakewood Choir), this cut showcases some of the most fun and infectious vocals on the entire project, and is one I played over and over again.

Leeland Mooring and Andy Park offer one of the most poignant and well-written songs on the album with “Friend of the Poor” (and we remember here why we like Leeland’s voice so much). But it doesn’t stop there. CompassionArt finishes strong with great collaborative efforts from Zschech, Houghton and Mooring on “King of the Broken”; Tomlin, Baloche and Chapman on “You Have Shown Us”; and Martin Smith, Chapman and the Watoto Children’s Choir on the album’s final cut, the inspiring “There Is Always a Song.”

Although I hate to say it, if there are any weak spots worth noting, they probably come in the places featuring Kirk Franklin and tobyMac – both in their collaboration on “Let It Glow,” and elsewhere on some ad lib moments – only because they feel forced and out of place among the rest of this collection. But it won’t be enough to keep this from being one of the most talked-about releases of the year, and rightfully so. The songs (and cause) are well worth your money, and will hopefully find their way into your Sunday morning worship setting, too.

compassionart.tv

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