Falling Up

Today is my day off. I thought that on my days off I would blog about something unrelated to church or Year 13.


One of my favourite bands at the moment is Falling Up. They're a Christian 'Alternative Rock' band, so far they have released three different albums.

I actually just got their first album, 'Crashings', last week. I've been listening to it a lot in the time I've had it, and I've found it interesting how each of the albums offers something unique compared to the others. (And I will attempt to explain how they sound different and stuff)

'Crashings' seems to have what I would assume is your standard rock setup, it has your electric guitar pumping, your drums, your bass, all that stuff. It's done in what I would describe as a slightly heavy manner, not heaps heavy like when you can't understand anything that is being sung, but still fairly heavy. The lead singer has a pretty unique voice, and he seems to have recorded quite a few tracks which contain many different harmonies, but the harmonies aren't done in a way that they are immediately obvious. In the lyrics booklet each song is accompanied with a passage from the bible to help explain its meaning. The topics of the songs range from the need to rely on God's love instead of the broken love the world offers, to the danger of being mislead by false teachers.

'Dawn Escapes', their second album, keeps many of the main features of Falling Up, yet shows that they have matured since their first release. Although I do quite like the more raw feel of 'Crashings', 'Dawn Escapes' brings with it an atmosphere that gradually makes its way through the album. Many of the songs are driven by simple piano melodies that last only a few bars, yet add a lot to the song. Some of the songs even stray from using the traditional electric guitar setup. Their song lyrics have also matured since their first release. While each song is again provided with a bible passage to accompany it, it isn't always obvious what the song's message is. For many of them I'm still not quite sure what their message is, but I have found it interesting to think over the lyrics every now and then to give it some more thought. Overall I think the album's message is need of living with Jesus as our saviour, and the need for God as a solid foundation in our lives. The cover of the album supports this, as it shows a house built on sand gradually bring destroyed by the waves of the ocean.

'Exit Lights', their most recent release, is actually a remix of some tracks from their first two albums. Three tracks are from 'Crashings', seven are from 'Dawn Escapes', one is a completely new song, and there are also two instrumental interludes. The album contains a lot of diversity in the approaches taken in remixing the songs, some remain in largely the same arrangement with a different take on the music accompaning it, while others are changed dramatically. While it does provide a very different feel to Falling Up's usual style, I really like this album too. Part of the reason may very well be because it makes it sound kind of similar to video game soundtracks...