I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home)

Artist: The City Harmonic
Label: Kingsway
Genre: Pop

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I’ve spent way too much time with The City Harmonic’s first full-length CD, I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home). Way. Too. Much. Except for other work-related obligations, for the past two months, my vast music collection has been ignored. On my computer, on my iPod, my iPad and in my car CD player... this one record has been in (almost) constant play.

In the interest of full disclosure, there was a time when I HAD to listen to it. After all, I was hired to listen, to interview the band and to write the project bio. I do that for a lot of artists, and I get paid to do that. But the obligation ended when the bio was written. And had this been your average release, I would have been glad to let it go. But truth is, I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home) won’t let ME go.

I can count on one hand the Christian music albums in the last 10 years that would not let me go. This is one.

And that’s just one of many reasons why this record is, simply put, one of the best albums of 2011.

But if you want more concrete reasons why, which is the point of a review after all, here they are:

• The lyrics here are intelligent and deeply spiritual, simple but profound anthems of love and longing, hope and light, ‘something real in a world of fake.’ “Yours” and “Spark,” the albums’ openers are great examples, and only the beginning. “Fell Apart” and “Be Still O My Soul” are personal favorites.

• Musically captivating, the project builds from song to song, carrying the listener on a journey. “Holy (Wedding Day)” and the title track are unforgettable examples of this.

• Track by track, there are layers and mysteries and scriptural connections to explore, almost as if it was supposed to be a full-blown concept album. Any band that can weave the Transfiguration, The Wizard of Oz and Martin Luther King into one tapestry and have it all make sense—well, give them however many stars they want. 

• This band—vocalist/songwriter and pianist Elias Dummer, bassist Eric Fusilier, guitarist Aaron Powell and drummer Josh Vanderlaan—understands the power of community expression in the music it creates. The songs are written to connect to that missing piece in all of us, that still small voice that longs to sing out loud and strong and to live like we mean it.

I could go on, but in a couple of sentences, it’s going be a ridiculous waste of your time and attention. Plus, the 2:35 mark on “Be Still O My Soul” is here, and I have no choice but to sing it.

So go on and live like you know you’ve been given
Forgiveness and healing and love never-ending
Go on and love
Go on and love...