HALL IS GLORIOUSLY TRANSPARENT ON INTENSE 12-SONG SET

If there was ever a “dark” artist among the roster of worship artists trained by the Passion movement of the last 10 years, it is Charlie Hall. “Contemplative” may be a better word. Or “artsy.” Or maybe “critically thoughtful.” No matter how you try to tag the man who has become synonymous with taking modern worship deeper, The Bright Sadness pushes the listener to pause and consider more closely.

Light on fluff and heavy with real life, the brilliant thing about Hall’s songwriting is it takes the simpler language of worship music and still somehow probes the more cerebral philosophies of faith and life.

Pitting the angst of the human condition up against belief in God, “My Brightness” plays off the title:  “I wish this thing could pass from me/But I’m wanting what You want/So bring me high or bring me low/Just hold me in Your love… Your love is like a rock when I’m spinning.”

“New Year,” the disc’s most creative track, continues the exploration: “My heart opens wide/And the Father pours life deep inside my soul/Where hope can hold the hand of sorrow/And we can walk until tomorrow/Where peace is found in troubled days/And the joy of Jesus carries pain.”

“Thrill” pays homage to the worship roots that have firmly established Hall’s name among church audiences nationwide, while “Hookers and Robbers,” with a Mat Kearney-like verse/chorus, mindfully renders our iniquities being transformed by “…the biggest of feasts/A night of no shame to pause and to breathe/This is the night of love’s renovation…Come as you are.”

The Bright Sadness is not worship music status quo. And that’s a really good thing, for Charlie Hall has proven he is not simply a worship leader but also an artist, one in the highest caliber. –Andrew Greer