Consider the album's closer, "Death Bed." It's certainly one of the most fully realized explorations of the Gospel ever set to alternative music. In it, Thiessen creates an unnamed fictional everyman who is in his final moments on earth, lying in his literal deathbed and reflecting on his sad life and beautiful salvation. In the tradition of classic theatrical rock epics such as "A Day in the Life," "Pet Sounds" and "Bohemian Rhapsody," it takes the listener on a musical and lyrical journey without a trace of irony or self-consciousness. The use of piano, strings, banjo and other atypical components add a neo-classical element that would be more at home on a record by Sufjan Stevens than any previous Relient K sets. A beautiful instrumental climax represents the character's ascent to Heaven, and a stunning coda sung achingly by guest vocalist Jon Foreman wraps the whole thing up with a bang.
"When Matt asked me if I wanted to sing on a tune," Foreman explains, "I told him that I would be honored to be involved. I enjoy singing notes I wouldn't write that approach subjects that I don't write about -- it's like a vacation, or a trip overseas. If I were to hire a voice to play the part of God, I would shoot for a voice like Johnny Cash or maybe Lou Reed. So I tried to dive into it and make even the high notes feel authentic and strong." That he did. Foreman’s falsetto evokes feelings of a gracious and gentle God ushering the weary and broken protagonist into His rest.
How such a boldly and obviously "Christian" song will go over on a record intended for mainstream appeal is not really a concern for the band. The key for them is integrity. Thiessen explains, "I've always said that putting Jesus' name in a song is a really difficult thing to do because it’s really easy for it to come across as cheesy." Some fans on the band's message boards have misunderstood this statement, mistaking it for shame or fear of being bold spiritually. Not so, says Thiessen. The band makes no apologies for the Christian influence on its songs. "I still think that it's really hard to say 'Jesus' in a song and have people respect you for it, especially in pop rock music. 'Jesus' is a name to be revered and, if you treat it lightly, it's borderline blasphemy! I've put 'Jesus' in the wrong spots sometimes."
Foreman appreciates Thiessen's approach and sees a unique ability in him as a songwriter. "Matt's a fighter," Foreman says. "The inner fight is something that he sings about with honesty and conviction."
Repercussions from the mainstream side of things are not expected, and if they come, well..."If you know us all personally you'd hear us say that we don't really care if this record sells. We don't care if we're on MTV. We don't care if we have Platinum success or anything like that, and you'd know that it's not us trying to be humble —- it's just legitimately what we think. We don't really care! If this record tanks because I put 'Jesus' in a song, so be it. That's a sad thing for society." Capitol Records’ senior director of marketing Tom Osborn believes the band's strong reputation as good guys and hard workers, combined with the internal sense they have of their audience will protect them from the remaining "sects" of industry folks who still shun believers; or as Osborn puts it, "people who over-think it and are, in general, usually too 'hip' for the room." Osborn adds that Capitol is overjoyed to have the chance to launch Relient K into the mainstream. "They are a great band as a whole," he offers. "They've done an incredible job [on this record.] This is why you do this deal. We are kicking ourselves with happiness!"
2007 A.D.D.
The new level of maturity in Relient K's music is no accident, but neither is it a total buzz-kill. Humor still abounds; it's just a bit more sophisticated and tasteful. Big ideas, interesting musical experiments and grand visions occupy some of the space previously given over to frivolity and Jr. High jokes. "I think what we're going to do is make albums that as 26-year-olds we can play even for our 'cool' friends. But we're still having a lot of immature tongue-in-cheek sort of fun through other avenues. We still have a sense of humor, and we know we have a lot of fans that enjoy that aspect of our band. We want to provide that, but I think, at the same time, I don't want to have a record that I'm really proud of and then, all of a sudden, throw some cheeky something in there that isn’t appropriate."
And as for the verbose album title, it supposedly has nothing to do with the year 1900; nothing to do with the fact that in that year Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, decided to exhume his father's body and re-bury it in a massive concrete vault to protect it from thieves. No, according to Thiessen, it's a simple summary of their career. "Five members of the band; the fifth record, and it's been seven years since we put out our first album. So 'Five Score' means basically if you're scoring how many records we have, you’ve scored five."
Whatever.
From CCM's March 2007 issue. Get the full magazine digitally for only $1.99. Follow This Link!