New Red Mountain CD

I am very excited to now have Red Mountain's new CD, This Breaks My Heart of Stone. At this point, I've only made it through a couple of times, but so far I really dig it. There's such a raw emotion that is felt in all their albums. And I'm really attracted to it. They redo old hymns, most of which you've never heard of, which I really enjoy. The hymns embrace the idea that God has everything to do with our salvation and how His love is on us, even when our hearts are cold.

I was having a conversation with my roomie this morning about how a lot of Reformed music seems to have a depressing feel. And Red Mountain Music definitely fits that description to some degree. But, honestly that's why I think it's so great. Like the Puritans, who were so in tune with the depth of their sin, these redone hymns talk a lot about how screwed up we all are. But becuase of this acute awareness of sin, the lyrics are able to continue on and talk about the grace of God through Christ in a much more profound way. I think it's a good thing to come to a point of near depression over the depravity of our own hearts, and not to wallow in that guilt, but to lift up a now humble, broken heart to God and praise Him for His grace.

Here's what the producer said about the album:

The further we get, the less we seem to be sure of, the less we seem to know. If I'm honest, I'll admit that I struggle with being angry. I struggle with cynicism. It's not only hard to believe. It's hard to love. It's hard to be hurt. It's hard to see so many other people hurting. It's hard to stay. It's easier to just be cynical.

And yet, there are moments where the light shines. There are moments where I am "convinced as a sinner, to Jesus I come". There are moments when I meet someone and their belief shakes me somewhere deep inside, because I feel a similar belief inside myself. These moments of belief don’t seem to happen very often, but when they do, it feels like rain is falling on the drought of my soul.

For me - and I think for a lot of us - these moments of belief often coincide with music. These songs remind me, they remind us, that the gospel is at work. That redemption is taking place. That sad things are being made untrue. That hopefully in small pieces and small moments, our hardened hearts are breaking.