Song Release: Gwil Davey Speaks On God's Greatness on "Face Like Lightning"
Press Release For New Single by Gwil Davey
Bio: Gwil is a worship leader and singer-songwriter based in Norfolk. He has a degree in theology and worship and has spent time as a worship pastor and youth worker. He is married to Beth and working on his next project.
Background & Inspiration: From Gwil Davey
Melo absolutely nailed the sax solo in the instrumental! But more on that later. I think this is my most complete song to date.
I started writing it when I found a guitar line that I liked. I was in my hotel room, on a break from being part of a worship team at a conference. Thankfully I had my Mac and recording hardware to hand.
The second element I had was the statement face like lightning. I had that written in my notebook for a few months now but didn’t have a song it fits into. Amazingly lyrically this song came together pretty quickly. I was able to base a lot of the lyrics on Daniel’s vision and from the book of Revelation.
I found a drum loop, chopped it up and put it into the track, then added some acoustic. That’s when Isaias and Surrendered Records come in. Maybe it’s God’s providence but they had decided to have an offer during that period, September I think. So I messaged them and they wanted to work on it. Isaias added a lot of layers! His piano line, particularly in verse two is just stunning and his bass line just holds the song down so well.
He ‘accidentally’ added some cool reverb delay effects on my vocal at the end of the second verse which really adds to the song.
Now let’s talk Melo. I have wanted to work with him for a while. I love his sax playing and his heart for God. So I dropped him a message and amazingly he wanted to be involved. He sent over a great selection of options, not just for the instrumental but to layer up the rest of the song. I think Isaias used those brilliantly. A good friend of mine called Randy heard the song and wanted to add to Isaias’ and Christian’s backing vocals so I let him put some ideas in and what he added really brought the first verse to life.
On the third verse, I had seen an Instagram video of a guy recording choir vocals himself and I thought that some choir Vox would be really interesting. I’m not the best vocalist so I was a bit sceptical about how it would turn out. But it worked! Praise God. So that’s what you hear in the ‘Holy’ section of that verse.
Having written this I realise how many people helped with this song. And I only listed those who contributed musically. So many listened to some earlier versions and gave their feedback.
This track is all about God. He is so big and so great and I believe He is unimaginable. Praise God that we have passages like Daniel and Revelation that help us understand who we worship.
I believe that this theme captured the hearts of the people who helped out on this track. There’s nothing that can draw people together as God can. I’m super grateful to everyone involved. I hope you enjoy what you hear!
My Thoughts
One of the things I admire about Gwil’s music is the way he makes worship the central focus of his songs irrespective of the genre(s) he is exploring. As such, the song follows in the “spirit” of his Prayer Meeting EP from last year but carves its own distinct sonic landscape.
The song begins with the chorus and although it’s a pop song at its core, there are lo-fi electronic elements that permeate the song from start to finish from the warm keys to the synth layers.
Still, the star of the show has to be Melo’s saxophone additions. Imagine you’re preparing a meal and you have all the ingredients you think you need. Then a friend drops by with some seasoning for extra flavour. Melo’s addition kind of feels like that.
The song does not stop for him and objectively you might say that the song does not need him. However, once you hear his contribution, it is impossible to imagine the song without him. I also have to commend the other guest contributors to this song, Isaias Baquedano and Christian Singleton — both artists that I respect immensely — and Randy.
On the lyrical themes of the song, I don’t have too much to add to what Gwil has already said. But, it would be a miss if I didn’t highlight my favourite words in the song:
The everlasting great I am, who holds the stars and shapes the ground…
The angels stood around your throne, sing ‘holy holy holy one’
You welcome me with arms stretched wide…
In the end, this song is as smooth as they come with a strong and soothing reminder of the greatness of our God.
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