About
Dwell
These 11 songs, all themed around the Psalms (in the middle of the Bible), were mostly written during the Covid-19 pandemic period when comfort, perspective, joy and lament was found in these ancient poems and songs, written by God’s people over the centuries to a timeless God.
With recordings produced and mixed by the exceptional Matt Weeks (at weeksweeksweeks.com) and mastered by Luke Fellingham (at lunasound.co.uk), these songs cover a range of themes and styles, and seek to give fresh imagination to how these poems might be relevant for today.
Album launch
Watch back
About the songs
Since I couldn’t write and record songs for all 150 of the Psalms (not yet anyway!) this selection of songs seeks to represent some of the variety of themes and styles found in the Psalms.
With around 70% of the Psalms being laments, Psalm 13 (How Long O Lord) and Psalm 44 (Awake Lord) are in this category.
Psalm 23 (The Lord’s My Shepherd), Psalm 62 (Truly My Soul Finds Rest) and Psalm 91 (Dwelling) are psalms of comfort and trust in God in all the ups and downs of life.
Psalm 105 (Proclaim His Greatness) praises God for his greatness over time, drawing on the story of God being with his people throughout history.
Psalm 121 (Lift My Eyes Up) is taken from the group of psalms known as the Songs of Ascent, and seeks to reflect the jouneying pilgrimage of the psalm writers.
Psalm 150 (Let Everything With Breath), Psalm 92 (It Is Good To Praise The Lord) and Psalm 138 (I Will Praise You O Lord) are songs of praise that celebrate God’s goodness, faithfulnes and love.
Psalm 117 (Adoren A Dios) celebrates all nations praising God (in multiple languages - Spanish, French, English, Malayalam and Arabic!) reflecting how God is a God of all people, and the church is to be a family that is reflective of nations.
The recording process has been a lot of fun. Here are some of my friends joining with me to record.
Acknowledgements
Lead and backing vocals: Mark Willoughby
Additional lead vocals on Adoren A Dios: Marina Abdelmessih, Blessan Babu, Emmanuel Carillo
Additional vocalists on various songs: Helen Barker, Ben Gibbins, James Ighalo, Richard Owen, Katie Shaw
Additional vocals on Let Everything With Breath: Barney Ashurst, Aidan Barker, Eleanor Barker, Annabel Breward, Elliot Breward, Alby Butcher, Zach Butcher, Joel Crow, Elsie Gibbins, Lilli Gibbins, Amelia Gregory, Henry Hemington, Ruby Hemington, Gracie Horton, Lottie Horton, Bess Lee, Edie Lee, Eliza Maxwell, Ewan Mills, Freya Misiukanis, Ronia Mucha, Sofia Mylon, Anna Owen, Keziah Post, Zachary Raby, Charlotte Seaton, Joshua Seaton, Eliora Willoughby, Jairus Willoughby, Zac Willoughby (the voices from Kids Life!)
Bass, Acoustic Guitars, Electric Guitars, Piano, Programming/Synths, Trumpet, Backing Vocals: Matt Weeks
Violin: Helen Barker
Oboe: Mark Willoughby
Additional Electric Guitar: Dan Wheeler
Drums: George Cook
Production and Mixing: Matt Weeks (weeksweeksweeks.com)
Mastering: Luke Fellingham (lunasound.co.uk)
Design: Alastair Ronaldson
All songs © 2023 The Author (admin by ChurchSongs.co.uk)