Culture & Youth

Don’t miss: ‘The Long Fall Back To Earth’

Jars of Clay hint at the 80s' stadium grandeur of their formative years in their latest album, 'The Long Fall Back To Earth'.

This may be their tenth studio album but Jars of Clay show no signs of wearing out. The 14 tracks on Long Fall Back To Earth nicely balance anthem with melody, and offer more refined musical arrangements than their last album in 2006 – the gritty and raw-edged Good Monster.

The earthiness of Dan Haseltine’s voice blends well with the synths and drums that give the album an unmistakable ring of the 80s. For the fourth track on the album, "Heaven", Jars of Clay have clearly reached into the record box of their formative years - if you love The Editors or Duran Duran you’ll love this.

And the intelligent lyrics address with all the usual Jars of Clay flare the highs, lows and places in the middle that believers can encounter in their daily walk with Christ.

I use one hand to pull you closer, the other to push you away. If I had two hands doing the same thing, lifted high, lifted high ...

"Two Hands"

Tracks like "Two Hands" and "Headphones" challenge listeners to match nice words with actions while the soothing “Boys Lesson One” shows that Jars of Clay are just as capable of touching the quiet place in every soul as they are at stirring up full-bodied passion.

All in all, The Long Fall Back To Earth shows that Jars of Clay are still masters of innovation who know how to push the limits of their artistry without losing sight of what their music is all about.

The Long Fall Back To Earth is out on the Essential label and distributed in the UK by Integrity.

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