I would like to share my feedback and review on this awesome album that I have the chance to review for Centricity Music. The album by Andrew Peterson is called “Counting Stars” and is scheduled to be released on July 27th.
Excerpts taken from the album's bio page:
Framed in a largely acoustic context and underpinned by a sense of gentle but ancient and unyielding strength, Counting Stars aches and glows, finding infinite wonder in the stuff of hearth and home, family and friendship, struggle and storm. Perhaps it’s because the writing approach this time around involved a conscious departure from the string of concept albums Peterson has released in recent years. Opting for a more introspective, confessional approach seems to have opened a greater sense of vulnerability in the writing process.
While at least a half dozen of Peterson’s new songs—like “Dancing In the Minefields”, “Planting Trees”, and “God of My Fathers”—joyously celebrate his connectedness to his creator, family, friends, fellow artists, and even to past and future generations, a secondary theme also clearly emerges on the record; one that speaks of the great battle between hope and despair. Songs like the sparsely melodic “In the Night My Hope Lives On”, the slow-building “You Came So Close”, and the weary but unwavering “The Last Frontier” each move from a place of pain or struggle to one of a hard-won eternal hope.
The title Counting Stars ties the themes of relationship and hope together in the hope of God’s promise to Abraham. We’re a part of the cloud of witnesses, passing the promises of God to our children.
One of the songs in the album which caught my attention (and led me to click to every other songs of his on Youtube and becoming a fan on his Facebook profile) is the "Dancing in the Minefield". You can click on the song title to view the official video on Youtube or click here to read about the making of the music video. Few lines in the "Dancing in the Minefield" song which I absolutely love is:
"So when I lose my way, find me
And when I loose love’s chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith, to the end of all my days
When I forget my name, remind me"`
Lovely and meaningful lyrics! According to album's website, the story behind the "Dancing in the Minefield" song is as below:
"In December of 2009 my wife and I celebrated fifteen years of marriage. Three days later, we got in a silly argument and I wrote this song after she went to bed. Marriage, see, was God’s idea. It’s one of the most potent metaphors in all of Scripture for the way God loves us and the way we’re to let ourselves be loved by him. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. To the contrary, it’s fraught with peril. Any good marriage involves a thousand deaths to self—the good news is, a godly marriage involves at least as many resurrections. We lay our lives down and enter this perilous dance with another human being who has done the same. Why should we expect to emerge unscathed? No, the wounds bear testimony to the great power of grace. If I had had any idea what I was getting into fifteen years ago I wouldn’t have walked the aisle—I’d have run down it."
Wow! I just loved it when he said "Any good marriage involves a thousand deaths to self—the good news is, a godly marriage involves at least as many resurrections."
IMO, marriage is not an easy thing. To be able to find that special someone out of the gazillions people on this planet means something. To make marriage works takes lots and lots of love and understanding, tons of patience and an open heart and mind for both parties. And since we're still on the topic of marriage, do take some time to read the following scriptures that I found: 1 Corinthians 13:4-13, Ephesians 5:22-33
You can get the Counting Stars
album from Amazon to get your own copy now!
I would like to give a note of thanks to Centricity Music for this wonderful opportunity to review this amazing singer and album!
Andrew Peterson's songs are definitely going into my bookmarked pages for songs to listen to when I am doing my work (when Ben's asleep of course!) and even as I'm typing this, the "Dancing in the Minefield" song is playing at the background and Ben is sleeping peacefully as ever and I'm reminded of how blessed I am to be married to my hubby and having a beautiful and perfect child like Ben.
Also, I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a promo page with info on this album by Centricity Music in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.
