Integrity Music announces the April 10th global release of Center Of It All from the critically-acclaimed Desperation Band known for songs such as “Overcome,” “I Am Free” and “Yahweh.” The new, 13-track album is the band’s sixth recording and marks the first project under a new contract with their longtime label partner.
Anchored by the Desperation Band’s passionate approach to worship, Center Of It All is a bold call for believers to rise up and realize that God is not a priority, but the priority, the “center of it all.”
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Highly Rated Music From An Underrated Band| Posted April 09, 2012 Hillsong, Gateway, and Lakewood... What do these three churches have in common? Other than a popular social status, all three bodies have been critically acclaimed for the continually solid efforts their respected worship teams have brought forth. Having introduced us to singer/songwriters such as Martha Munizzi, Israel Houghton, Kari Jobe, Joel Houston and Darlene Zschech, these several bands have written songs that have forever changed the face worship in churches all around the globe.
Among many of the worship teams who are following their lead, a group known as Desperation Band might be one of the most overlooked.
The worship team hailing from New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., is fronted by musician Jon Egan. While his name might not sound familiar, his songs certainly will, having penned hits such as "Overcome" (Jeremy Camp) and "I Am Free" (Newsboys).
Although the group has released a handful of projects since their conception back in 2001, their biggest break came with 2007‘s Everyone Overcome, featuring the previously mentioned "Overcome." The song became New Life Church's battle-cry after a tragic shooting on the campus back in December of 2007.The song gained widespread attention in the church with it's almost prophetic declaration of hope and catapulted the band to notoriety within the CCM industry.
It's been a number of years since, but as far as the group's mission goes, nothing has changed.
"Desperation Band has always been and always will be about the presence of God. We exist to bring Him glory and reveal His truth to a broken world. If we know who His is, we know who we are" says Egan of the group, "it's not a youth movement. It's not a church movement. It's a people movement."
Continually desiring to make a big God known to a broken world, the band's latest studio effort, Center Of It All, comes as a wake-up call to believers, reminding them to make God their everything.
"All To Him" begins the album as an epic anthem of dedication to the God we serve. "Wonderful" is an upbeat worshipful tune that I can see many youth groups adopting with its fun and passionate presence.
The chilling "Strong God" paints beautiful portrait of the Savior and meshes it against the backdrop of a haunting backline. "Magnified" is a powerful song of praise, although feels a little musically simplistic.
"God You Are My God" meets the listeners with yet another does of heavy strings that'll sure to leave them wanting more, while "My God" serves as the lyrically strongest song on the record, talking about the fallacy of humanity, and the beauty of our Savior: "This is my God, holy and pure, sovereign and sure, only my God bled for my soul, now I surrender all."
"Our God Is Coming" continues the album's powerful yet mellow track of unhindered worship and leads directly into the namesake, "Center Of It All." Picking up the pace a bit, this is yet another song the church will immediately gravitate too for Sunday morning set lists.
"This I Know" and "You Are The Glory" both serve as abandoned tracks of surrender. The most memorable track on the record however, comes next the form of "We Will Not Forget." Coming from a personal place of brokenness, it becomes a believers cry unto God that they will serve Him and not forget all He has done for them, even when life is at it's hardest. It's a beautiful song.
The final two tracks on the record come as partners of sorts with "Take Me To The River" and "River Flow." The first song being about our need to for living water, and the second being a follow-up, talking about the life we will find when we finally drink deep the living water of Jesus. The latter of the two being my personal favorite.
Closing Thoughts: Jon Egan, as well as the joint members of Desperation Band, are one of Christian music's more low-key worship acts. And while fame isn't what the band is reaching for, with their captivating songwriting and beautiful melodies, I hope to see them gain more exposure in the coming years, seeing as they have quite a bit to offer the worship music genre.
Even though Center Of It All isn't Desperation Band's strongest effort to date, it paints a solid picture of their current vision and ushers in a powerful time of praise to our Creator. It's not the most upbeat worship project of the year, and does it does tend to stay on the mellow side, but for intimate times of soaking in the presence of God, this will be your turn to album.
One of their best| Posted July 01, 2013
I was hesitant when first listening to this album. The first song I heard was Our God Is Coming. I thought it was very electronic with too much reverb. Upon second and third listening however the catchiness of the song got to me.
The song transitions are brilliant, no rough cuts as sometimes happens with live albums - not knowing where one song ends and another starts so you get offcuts at the beginning and end of songs. This was not the case with this album. Furthermore, there is a good proportion of upbeat praise songs to slower worship songs. It is also nice that they slowly transition into the slower songs, instead of mixing up the tempo of the album as a whole, by dotting praise songs in between the worship ones.
This album really shows the character of God. All too often, we get caught up in the music but Centre Of It All brings a powerful combination of both music and lyrics to usher people into the presence of God.
"Center Of It All"| Posted May 23, 2012
From the New Life Church Bookstore in Colorado Springs. Follow us on facebook at www.facebook.com/NewLifeChurchBookstore.
The latest release from Desperation Band, Center of It All, is a solid follow-up to 2009’sLight Up the World. I personally questioned why Dband would record this as a studio album instead of as a live album, but one listen and the reason, at least to me, became obvious. This feels as if it is a wonderful blend of studio and live recording. Why? The “choir” of friends who joined the band for jam sessions are a prominent backing for Jon Egan and the band throughout this album, giving it a very singable feel. Only a studio album could raise the bar higher than Light Up the World. With an opening statement like that, does Centerlive up to the hype? Read on and find out.
Center kicks off with “All to Him,” a slow-building, yet anthemic opening to the album. If you’ve listened to Hillsong United’s Aftermath album from February 2011, you’ll see that “All to Him” is remarkably similar to the opening track of “Take Heart.” “All to Him” declares that “We know the great God/ We serve the great God/ We owe the great God/ everything, all to Him.” The first verse of the song declares that for every mountain that is high, for every burden that is great, for every valley that is deep, our God is higher, our God is greater, and our God is deeper. And the second verse is similar in how it declares the truths of our faith.
Track 2 is a song New Lifers will recognize from Sunday mornings: “Wonderful.” You’ll recognize the opening piano riff, but if not, the lyrics “Your freedom reigns/ Your justice roars/ Your people sing/ You’re the risen Lord/ Our hearts alive/ Our hope endures/ In all the earth/ There is no One so wonderful” should jog your memory. This is a fun, upbeat song; I am hopeful that this song will go on as a radio single. It’s not as if Dband needs the recognition from radio, but this is a great song that people should hear.
“Strong God” is another Sunday morning favorite. “Sing out/ lift your voice and cry out/ awesome is our strong God/ mighty is our God.” The most poignant part of the song comes after the song ends, when the “congregation” continues with a repeat of the bridge: “There is no higher, no/ There is no greater, no/ There is none stronger than our God.” The feel of the end is just as if they had recorded a live album.
“Magnified” is a great song declaring God’s glory. Initially, I was unimpressed but subsequent listens really showed how deep the lyrics are and how great the musicianship truly is. “God You Are My God” is DBand’s first cover, originally recorded by the group one sonic society and written by Jason Ingram, Paul Mabury, and Rory Noland. “It impacted me in a special way when I first heard it and that was why I wanted to include it on the album,” Egan said, in regards to why they chose to cover a song for the first time.
“My God” has a very acoustic feel, lacking the choral backing present on the rest of the album. Gateway Church’s Kari Jobe is Egan’s only backup. Jobe has been a participant in the Desperation Conferences and co-wrote this song with Egan and Mia Fieldes of Hillsong. Quiet and subdued, “My God” is a catch-your-breath moment on the album.
“Our God Is Coming” is the only song on the album that was not a collaboration. Egan wrote it himself, but this doesn’t detract from the quality of the song. In fact, this is probably one of the best tracks on the album. It has a driving beat, consistent with the message that God IS coming, and we need to be ready. “Our God is coming/ look to the sky/ Heaven is wide” focuses us to where our Lord will come from. The urgency of the message transitions well into the title track, “Center of It All.” The reminder that our God is coming helps us to remember who is at the center of our lives, that “If I have you and nothing else/ I have everything/ If I have everything but You I have nothing.”
The next track is one that New Lifers will definitely recognize, “This I Know.” Since this track is familiar, on to the next song, “You Are the Glory.” This song is a great encouragement for those who are struggling with daily life. “You are the Glory/ the lifter of my head.” This worshipful, encouraging song sets the stage for the last three tracks on the album.
“We Will Not Forget” declares that we know what God has done for us and we will not forget it. While this is a good song, it comes between “Glory” and the heartfelt “Take Me To the River,” followed by “River Flow.” Egan says that “Take Me” is the song with the most significance to him. “There is a passage in Ezekiel about the river flowing in the new Jerusalem and wherever it goes it brings new life,” he said. “The song is probably my favorite song I’ve ever written…. It’s basically about control, about going to the river and wading in until it takes you away. The chorus ‘Take me to the river/ Pull me off the shore’ is about giving control to Him.” It is a heartfelt prayer for God to take us to the river of His life and love, a cry for God to pull us into Him. “River Flow” is a quiet closing track that is mostly a reprise of “Take Me.”
Again, Desperation Band has managed to release another stellar collection of songs soon to be sung in churches around the country. There isn’t a weak song on the album. This collection certainly follows up the excellence of Light Up the World with a reminder of what is imminent and songs that truly focus our hearts where they should go. Our God is indeed coming. Let’s make Him the Center of It All until He does.
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