Telecast - “Quiet Revolution”
In 2003, Washington alt-rock quintet Telecast released their debut album, The Beauty of Simplicity, on BEC Records. It was met with little fanfare, brief airplay, and then forgotten. 2005 brought a line-up change with the once-again largely ignored sophomore effort Eternity Is Now. Most critics seemed to agree, the band held great potential but seemed hung up on employing Coldplay-esque clichés and repetitive song formats. In 2008, Telecast announced that their third album, Quiet Revolution, would drop on April 28, 2008. And that, it seems, would bring us up to date…
Telecast has shaken up their sound remarkably, not insofar as sporting a dizzying new set of production methods or an arrogant, big-budget sound (a la recent worship efforts from Leeland or David Crowder). No, their approach here simply packs as many simple, but effective musical ideas into a four-minute track as possible. Take the album opener, “All Around Me,” a quirky pop anthem with dissonant background vocals that swells with a ¾ piano accompaniment at its bridge, before running pell-mell into a coy, but satisfying conclusion.
What’s more comforting to the ear, though, is how White and crew seem set on never taking the same approach twice. Sticking with what works remains effective only when the techniques are far removed enough to not sound repetitive. From ambient and techno influences on “All That You Are” (which reminds me loosely of Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place”) to folk and blues on “Anchor of My Soul” and “Enclosed by You” respectively, they’ve got so many ideas floating around for 12 tracks that they hardly know where to cram them all.
That’s not to say that they’ve totally opened their arms to the polarizing sounds of so many experimental post-rock artists (although “The Message” briefly dabbles in trippy math rock percussion on its opening verse). No, the pop song craft still rears its often unfairly-derided head track after track after track. And worship music is what this is, through and through. The emphasis though, for once, is more on music than worship. What makes all the difference is White’s careful ear for substance, shaking up a composition’s development the moment it dares to grow tiresome, and lacing each song with minute background details to make further listens far richer than an initial impression.
Speaking of initial impressions, Quiet Revolution comes across almost underwhelming at first listen. Still, the album is so far apart from anything Telecast has ever attempted that one can’t help but be surprised by its end. Only after a couple thorough passes does its quality really make itself known. Simply put, it’s an album you first like, then love.
The only serious downside would be lyricism. Each and every idea conveyed in the album’s whole is quoted almost verbatim from scripture, with the exception of “Enclosed By You,” showing White as he gets in touch with his hymnist muse. Telecast takes basic truths and juxtaposes them with music that’s tailor-made for the ear, a sort of delightful candy that manages to make itself more than just a collection of Christian radio hits through sheer force of sincerity. The only problem this poses is with White himself—when hearing these familiar biblical truths once again, it’s quite easy to forget what an excellent songwriter he is. Make no mistake; he has become (at least, in my esteem) the premier worship leader of this year.
2008 has thirsted desperately for an artist or band to take the forefront of Christian music and challenge our hearts (and more importantly, our minds) with the gospel so many have died for. Well, here it is. Let the Revolution begin.
4.5/5
John Wofford
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