CD REVIEW: DAN MCGOWAN - Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Songs [Independent]

‘Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Songs’ by Colorado-based Dan McGowan demonstrates a testament to passionate and skilful execution of sung prayer. The strength of this release lies in its understated simplicity. The songs are crafted simply, yet effectively allowing them to stand alone as vibrant and enthusiastic expressions of prayer.

McGowan begins this 15-track offering with the upbeat ‘Beautiful Day’. Swelling synths build to a crescendo with a pulsing bass line, which sounds very 80’s before seguing into a happy and rollicking hymn of praise. With obvious applications to morning services with the recurring catch cry of, ‘This is a beautiful day, this is the day that the Lord has made’, it makes for a good start to a solid recording.

Next, is the gospel tinged ‘You Did’ which highlights McGowan’s ability to show off his song craft. This self-penned track displays a simple message of the glory and wonders of God in nature. The refrain lifts very nicely into a harmonised passage that is stirring and motivating. Without downplaying the strength of the song, the simple and light style of this particular track would lend itself nicely to children’s liturgy. There is scope here for wonderful catechesis of children either in a school setting or perhaps in a parish setting as part of a Sunday children’s Liturgy of the Word.

‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’ is one of three traditional hymns that appear on this release. The track shows McGowan as powerful cantor with a strong gospel influence in his vocal delivery. His lush vibrato accentuates the ‘traditional’ vibe of the hymn and made me grab the CD sleeve to check if the late Derek Campbell hadn’t made a guest appearance. No. It’s all McGowan here. Very nice.

Another McGowan offering, ‘His Love Remains’ displays a simple arrangement with a singable refrain. The percussion is light [a simple tambourine] and is typical of many of the songs on ‘Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Hymns’. Percussion can so often overwhelm production values, but here it is used sparingly to serve the song, which ultimately serves a higher purpose of prayer.

‘Dance With Joy’ is a snazzy little offering, which leads itself to congregational singing. The brass lines sound a little thin on this particular track and sound like they are being played through a cheap and nasty little Casio. One could imagine a honking and hooting live brass section really lifting this song into the stratosphere complete with sliding trombones and duelling muted trumpets. This aside, the mood is infectious and when that key change kicks in and McGowan exclaims a little ‘wooo!’ – things definitely end up on uplifting note.

The hymn ‘There Is A Harvest’ speaks of evangelisation and would make for a wonderful song of mission at the conclusion of a liturgy. Once again, the percussion is light and tasteful which accompanies the swelling moments of the song that are further helped by great sung harmony lines.

‘Amazing Grace’ is included as another traditional piece and is a welcome addition to the collection. McGowan’s working of this standard is sincere. The instrumentation is simple; piano and voice with a hint of ethereal keyboard interspersed towards the conclusion for good effect.

‘If We Only Knew’ is a song of hope and jubilant praise of God which uses images of raising one’s hands to give God praise. It is clear, as the title of the CD implies, that McGowan has been shaped by the beauty and poetry of the psalms. ‘My Soul Finds Rests’ continues in a similar vein to the previous track and features some flamenco style picked guitar in the background, which caught the ear of this little blogger [we all have our weaknesses, I guess].

‘I Cry Holy’ is essentially a love song to God and is the kind of tune that has you scratching you head thinking ‘I feel I heard this somewhere before’…but no…yet another McGowan penned tune. As ‘Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Songs’ progresses and with subsequent listens, you get a real sense that this release is the result of many years of active ministry. The theology is rich, rooted in the psalms and the songcraft is established and well and truly tested. You can hear it. This begs the question, where has Dan McGowan been all this time and why have we not heard more of his inspirational and prayerful music before now? Why hasn’t his music been marketed and pushed by some publishing house to greater effect? There are plenty of people out there who would have their prayer augmented by the riches that are found here.

‘You Love Me’ is one of the highlights of the recording. McGowan’s daughter, Rachel sings the main vocal line and the results are stunning. Rachel McGowan has an achingly beautiful quality to her voice and this adds to the sincerity of this already impressive recording. By the time the bridge hits and father and daughter harmonise vocally, there is no turning back…one can only say that this is nothing short of a triumph. Wonderful prayer. Just wonderful.

‘I Refuse’ follows a similar vibe to ‘Beautiful Day’…a punchy, straight-up hymn declaring the trust in Jesus. ‘Well Done’ is a fitting song to conclude the collection and would be ideally suited for use in funerals and memorial services celebrating the life of those departed. There is a wonderful sense of hope and optimism here with the line of:

When I’ve seen my last setting sun
I want to hear Well Done!

‘Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Songs’ is a successful collection of hymns that will undoubtedly assist communities in their prayer. Dan McGowan’s songcraft and production techniques serves the prayerfulness of these texts and offer to all who will listen, an insight into how worship can be done simply and at the same time powerfully. The tracks lend themselves to congregational active participation with refrains that are easy to sing and memorable. One hopes this fine independent release will open doors for McGowan as a composer and prayer leader. Let’s pray for it.

For more information on 'Psalm, Hymns, Spiritual Songs' and online purchasing details go to Dan McGowan's Recordings page.