The Choir

Item: Speckled Bird
Author: Beth Blinn

Speckled Bird

(1994)

Reviewed by Beth Blinn

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label R.E.X. MusicThe LighthouseJuly 1994

alternative rock dream pop shoegaze

After an absence of several years, The Choir have emerged back onto the Christian music scene with Speckled Bird, their first label release in four years. After the band's contract with Myrrh ended in 1991, they have spent the last several years pursuing a mainstream contract. During that time they produced an independent eight-song project, Kissers and Killers, that had a limited pressing and was only available through mail order and at their concerts. A one-album agreement with R.E.X. has resulted in the release of Speckled Bird. The band decided that the songs from Kissers and Killers should be exposed to a wider audience, and R.E.X. was happy to comply. So the group chose six of the songs from Kissers..., remixed them, and added six new compositions to come up with a full album.

And full it is-full of that trademark quality Choir sound, but different. If you listen to their six previous label releases, you will hear subtle changes in the band's sound from album to album. But in the four years since Circle Slide, the change is more pronounced. After all, those six previous albums were done in six years-a much smaller amount of time elapsed between recordings. The changes are evident from the title cut opening the album. The sound is thicker, less ringing, and the bass is more prominent. The tempo picks up more with "Yellow Skies," but the tension is still there. "Like A Cloud," a short pop piece, is more like the older Choir stuff, and has a great string section. "Gripped" and "Weather Girl," two cuts from Kissers..., continue in the vein of the first two songs.

An acoustic version of "Wilderness" showed up on Browbeat, a collection of acoustic alternative music that came out last year on Alarma Records. When I first heard the electric version, I thought I preferred the acoustic one, but I have since decided that I like them both equally, for different reasons. The acoustic version is more haunting, but the electric one exhibits more of the tension that is threaded through the lyrics.

The second half of the album is as strong as the first. "Never More True" hints at some of the difficulties that the band members have had in adjusting to their new home. "Spring," inspired by the group's first experience of watching the season of winter turn into spring, is a more positive look at their new surroundings, however. The album then slides into "Grace," before finishing up with three more from Kissers...-"Amazing," "Love Your Mind," and "Kissers and Killers."

All in all Speckled Bird is a very strong album-definitely better than most music out there, secular or Christian.