Hi Pal,
I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of discovering wonderful surprises in the Christian alternative scene. I feel like I’ve expressed this sentiment a lot recently, but we are really blessed with incredibly gifted individuals around the world.
A few days ago, I was gearing up to write a review for Tina Boonstra’s recent album, Circle back, start again (don’t worry, it’ll be up soon). Usually, as I gather my thoughts for a review, it’s a habit of mine to scour the internet for other reviews. However, due to the unique niche of music we tend to cover here, I rarely find more than two or three.
For this album, I found two reviews and one of the blogs caught my attention because it was a simple WordPress site dedicated to CCM music that apparently has been blogging for 32 years. Blown away by the consistency of this site that I have never heard of, Never For Nothing, I decided to look around for a bit and that’s how I ran into Haydon Spenceley.
Haydon Spenceley is a singer-songwriter and worship leader who dropped a new album titled Ruthless Trust on May 19th, 2023. The album is a mix between Britpop and modern Alternative/Indie-Rock, and filled me with so much nostalgia when I listened to it.
With the evolution of indie and alternative rock in the UK as well as its incorporation and fusion with pop-rock elements in some corners, it’s easy to forget how many Britpop bands paved the way for these sounds today. With the reign of bands like Oasis and The Verve in the late 1980s and 1990s to the modern influences of bands like Coldplay and Keane in the 2000s, I had forgotten just how much I love those sounds.
The entire album is a delight, but Hurry Up
has a distinct feel about it that makes it stand out. It has everything you need; from distorted fuzzy guitars and punchy keys to an urgent compelling vocal delivery that will feel right at home with some staples from the aforementioned bands.
On the lyrical side, we have this for a short yet compelling chorus:
Hey hurry up! come quick, some of us are dying over here
It is delivered with a witty and ironic tone, as though he is trying to downplay the urgency of the matter. Yet, listening to the song as a whole shows that it is a clear cry for help and rescue from God.
I’ll be spending some time with this one and I can’t wait to tell you more about it.
All Links
I’m enjoying this album so much that I see myself writing a review for it pretty soon. Until that time, you can check out our other reviews here.
I’m always ready to hear what you have to say, tell me your thoughts.
Feel free to take things a step further here: