It has been several years since Geoff Moore and the Distance released a batch of new songs. So I was anxious to hear their new CD, Threads, when it was released last fall. Equally divided between fast rock songs and ballads, this new project expresses Moore's desire to be salt and light in a world that needs to hear the message of Jesus.
The CD leads off with a cover of the Pete Townshend song "I'm Free," which definitely retains the feel of a good Who tune - driving electric guitars, a rockin' chorus, and a great guitar riff that gets repeated several times. This one'll have you up and moving! From there the project moves into more familiar territory for GMD. The trademark Geoff Moore sound is there on the more upbeat numbers; that is, softer verses followed by louder, rockier choruses. Most of this will remind one of the band's previous project, Home Run. Guitars and drums are the dominant instruments here, with the underlying keyboards carrying the music along. Every other song is a ballad, which tends to give the project a continual "start and stop" feel. Just as the music gets you going, the ballad comes along and slows things up. These are good songs, but the spacing seems awkward.
Lyrically, these songs are as strong as anything Geoff Moore has produced to date. From the title cut, co-written with Toby McKeehan and pal Steven Curtis Chapman, to "The In Betweens," a song about finding meaning in life in the everyday moments, Moore is straightforward about his faith and his conviction that he needs to share it with others. In the song "Only a Fool" he writes:
Show me the big in the small.
Show me the wonder of my call.
Even when no one else approves,
I'll take the job for only a fool.
Geoff realizes that sometimes the job that God calls us to do can look pretty foolish in the eyes of the world. But we are called to be His fools. "The Scattering" is a searing indictment against complacent Christianity:
For our information
Procrastination is killing the vision
Of the great commission.
Instead of integrating
I'm off retreating
And the potluck I'm eating
While the world is screaming.
Strong stuff! Moore alludes to the story of the prodigal son in "Running to You," reminding us that even as we are running to the Father, He is running to us, too. And in "Declaration" he sends out a call to be willing to be used by God to reach our generation. Geoff has woven these songs together to remind, challenge, and encourage us as we each live out our faith in the moments of our days. Although musically the band hasn't broken any new ground here, the emphasis is really on the lyrics, which are a rallying cry to all who want to serve the Lord wherever He calls.
3.5 tocks
Similar sounding releases
1998SemisonicFeeling Strangely Fine
1997EagerEager
1999Blinker the StarAugust Everywhere
1999Pete StewartPete Stewart
1996PFRThem
2004LiveAwake: The Best of Live
