The Purple Song
The Purple Song
[Indie Pop] A song by Redemption Arc + Bonus Content: Artist Introduction
Hi Pal,
If you’re new here, thanks for joining us in our little corner. It feels good to be talking about new music again and introducing new artists to you.
Mini Review
As someone who grew up listening to pop and rock music, I quickly understood at a young age that there were more pop expressions than the sounds that seemed to monopolize my radio and TV back then. Now that I’ve learnt to identify genres, I am intrigued by the ways chamber pop, art pop and baroque pop have become some of my favourite sounds to listen to because they tend to be sonically accessible without feeling commercial.
Becca and Clements — the duo behind Redemption Arc — seem to be tapping into the sentiments of the aforementioned genres and my first thought listening to ‘The Purple Song’ was “This is a very quirky and cheerful tune”. I almost tagged the song as bubblegum pop but on multiple listens, I realized that I would be doing it a great disservice.
The sanguine approach to the composition serves a unique purpose as it allows the song’s message to sink in with multiple listens. Becca has a light and playful delivery that engages the listener and the resultant effect is that you can connect with the powerful message that the song passes uniquely and memorably.
In the end, I like this tune and I’m intrigued to hear what an EP or LP will sound like in this style. I suspect that there are many faces that this duo are yet to show and I can’t wait to experience them all.
See Lyric Video Here:
About Redemption Arc
”Indie-pop burdened with glorious purpose”
Redemption Arc writes catchy songs, with clever Christ-focused lyrics. Fondly described as antidepressants with no side effects and citing pop artists like Lana, Regina & Taylor as musical influences; Becca Hopkins (Vocalist) and Clements (Guitarist & Producer) know who they are now.
In a tough time, Hopkins & Clements started writing the songs they needed to hear — personal pop songs with Christ at the centre or the good news to a good beat. What followed was the tune, I'm Royalty and then The Purple Song. Two more songs are set to follow in 2024, as part of a larger waterfall release.
Inspiration
‘The Purple Song’ was inspired by seeing Christ revealed in typology in the Old Testament. The direct inspiration is the colours of the veils in the Mosaic tabernacle. To get to the Holy of Holies, you had to pass through these veils (including the one torn the day Jesus was crucified).
They were Red (a colour used in typology to symbolise mankind, red-blooded), Blue (the colour of the heavens, and it's widely thought the Ten Commandments were engraved on sapphire - all representing God), and lastly Purple (a colour created by mixing Blue and Red, fully man and fully divine). It's the colour of Royalty and Christ.
We are new creations in Christ, and just as you can't separate red paint from blue once they've been mixed, you also can't separate us from the love of Christ. So it's a song celebrating that union.
Recording
It starts with a Dylanesque chord progression, blending tonalities, and descending chromatically but just like the revelation makes things simpler, the music follows suit and by the end, we get a big pop chorus celebrating our new identity in Christ.
The song was recorded in our back bedroom, with a guitar, a keyboard, a computer, an audio interface, and Becca's trusted Shure SM7B. It was mixed by award-winning Mix Engineer Aidan Cunningham, and mastered by multi-Grammy winner John Greenham. In 2024 Redemption Arc received some financial support to help with the costs of mixing and mastering three (3) songs from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. This is the first of at least three releases coming soon.
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