Michael Krahn cites Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Bill Mallonee (of the Vigilantes of Love) as his three main influences. But despite that, you won't find mere imitations of those three on this album. Krahn has a style all his own, presenting a blend of folk and pop, with a few touches of jazz and rock thrown in for good measure.
The Weight of Glory starts off in an upbeat, yet reflective mode with "Eulogy" as Krahn muses on his mortality and eventual legacy. The second song, "She Remembers" is the closest you'll find to either Mallonee or Dylan, but that is more due to his harmonica playing than the overall sound. He continues his introspection on "Exactly Who I Am," a more tender reflection, complete with violin, on how we are often unsatisfied with our lives, even in times of abundance.
A few more rousing and electric songs follow, and are among the strongest pieces on the CD, and they both mix the struggles that we face within our faith with the hope that is available to all of us. He sums this up in the chorus of "Time is Not the Healer":
Time is not the healer
It's the duller of the blade
I know I'm still sick as I was
But there is hope for my condition
Because I'm listening.
Then in the title track he deals with the awesome responsibility that those of us who call ourselves Christians bear in terms of our dealings with those around us.
One of the most lovely songs is the folky "Forgetting to Feed Myself," Krahn's take on Psalm 102. The sound is bolstered by the beautiful backing vocals of Shannon Krahn, which, while present throughout the CD, are most prevalent here.
The presence of the Divine and Supernatural in our mundane lives in the person of a heavenly Father comes out in "The Hand that Makes You Breathe:"
Sometimes revelation is like birth
You're suddenly breathing real air
But you're cold and covered in the remnants of your former habitat
And as you hang feet up, the hand that slaps you
Is the hand that makes you breathe.
Krahn's music works wonderfully with his lyrics as he wrestles with what it means to be a Christian and live that reality out within imperfect and broken vessels. This is the second outing for the Canadian singer/songwriter (both "Weight of Glory" and his prior EP came out in 2000) and it leaves me looking forward to his next CD.
I'm also a firm believer that you can tell a lot about a person by the books they read and the music they listen to. So, with that in mind, in addition to the aforementioned trinity of songwriters, Krahn also drops the following names: Bruce Cockburn, Jan Krist, Mark Heard, David Wilcox, Indigo Girls, Thomas Merton, C.S. Lewis, and Madeleine L'Engle.
4 tocks
Similar sounding releases
2002Uncle Tupelo89/93: An Anthology
2003Derri DaughertyA Few Unfinished Songs
2004Peter HimmelmanUnstoppable Forces
2004Bill MalloneeDear Life
1996Vigilantes of LoveV.O.L.
1999Lost DogsThe Best of the Lost Dogs
