Ben Cantelon - Daylight Breaks Through
Survivor Records, released July 2007

Got this record from David Runnels; I am learning that David Runnels is very "connected," always getting records before anybody else, hearing secret movie/book info, stuff like that. Could he be in the Geek Mafia?

As best as I can tell, Ben Cantelon is the new worship leader/image of Soul Survivor, the English "youth church" pastored by Mike Pilavachi that made Matt Redman and Tim Hughes the mega-stars they are today.

Canadian-born Cantelon does a great job of capturing/almost-imitating the decidedly "British" sound of his predecessors Hughes and Redman. The guy's no slouch as a writer. He co-wrote Hughes' "Happy Day," one of the strongest tunes on Tim's "Holding Nothing Back" project. Here's the rundown, although a little different than previous reviews.

You're The Light
Music: Spacey ambient keyboard intro, delay electric and four-on-the-floor intro almost make this another failed "worship-as-U2" moment, but the chorus completely changes the feel. Arrangement skillfully mixes trendy verse and bridge sections with fantastic straight-ahead rocking choruses. Fantastic melody work and great 2nd vocal ad-lib part. Vocals sounds strangely similiar to United stuff.
Lyrics: With the exception of just a few lines, "You're The Light" stays focused and is clearly followed throughout. No major prose breakthroughs here, but good songwriting nonetheless. Accessibility: Bands playing at a slightly above average skill level can pull this tune off. Melodies are great but might present problems for male vocalists. (Background vocal is somewhere in the stratsophere, too.)
Overall: Song manages to take a relatively common style (delay, four on floor, etc.) and turn it into something very refreshing. Perfect album opener and a great song that can easily stand on its own.
Love Came Down
Music: Again, Canelton surprises! Track 2 opens with a nice fluid one chord movement that sounds pretty predictable. (Everybody knows what's gonna' happen when a track starts on acoustic, right?) However, when drums, bass and electric enter the tune, it takes on a whole new feel, almost Americana (without the steel!) Choruses are nice and driving, showcasing what kind of power is really possible when guitarists focus on rocking all down-strums. Chord progression is pretty simple, which works nice for the tune as it promises to be a quick-learner. Song has also features a great female backing vocal.
Lyrics: I wish the lyrics were a little more focused. There's all good stuff here, and nothing that feels "wrong" about the tune. In fact, it works great as a "lift-God-high" tune, I just wish it were a bit more linear.
Accessibility: Totally playable. I can't foresee any arrangement, performance difficulties here. Overall: The simple approach to the tune is its greatest asset. I hope more churches can hear and learn this tune. It's easy to play, fun to sing and provides a new "sort" of song into most church catalog.
Celebrate
Music: Remember how I said Canelton helped to write "Happy Day" with Tim Hughes. You can hear it in "Celebration." I love the presence of acoustic in this very joyous track. In fact, it reminds me of some those early Soul Survivor recordings. Those early records weren't mixed well, but I always liked the prominence of acoustic on songs like these. Song has great, full arrangement a very cool electric part.
Lyrics: The great thing about a song called "Celebrate" is that it can be a four-minute list of all God's goodness and still be totally cool. Cantelon doesn't quite go with the list-style, but it's still a broad tune of God's goodness and what that prompts within his kids.
Accessibility: This tune is all about the drums for me; if the song's gonna' cause any problems for a praise team, it's gonna' happen with drums. The fast tempo, driving hat and snare stuff could present problems for lesser-skilled drummers, but shouldn't bug guys and gals who've been drumming for awhile.
Overall: I personally believe that fast worship songs are among the hardest songs to write. A writer wants to have fun, inspire movement and joy without being trite or overly derivative. "Celebrate" is a great example of a well-written....well...celebration song!
You Are
Music: Love the driving acoustic/piano intro combined with a nice chimey "music box" riff. Verse 1 and Verse 2 are two different octaves, which is cool, but I'm not sure how that would play in most local churches. I also like the subtlety of this tune. It gets big, to be sure, but not too big. I also enjoyed the Mega-Super-Quiet-Bridge. It's a song-approach best done by Tim Hughes and it works here too. Some bands might like to play up the slight syncopated ending a bit more. It's done nicely on this record, but somebody's bound to want to go Coldplay on this tune.
Lyrics: This tune definitely falls into the long list of love style of song. (As mentioned in the previous song recap.) However, the song is still pretty centered, so the tune works well...in other words, Cantelon is singing a list, but it's a pretty well-written one.
Accessibility: Personally, the only problem for most of us would be the octave change. That's easy enough to fix, though.
Overall: Very fresh tune, great mid-tempo tune that would allow a song set to go in any direction.
Worthy
Music: Hammond and what sounds to be alternately tuned acoustic-electric kick off this mellow tune. Loved the minor-chord verse and the end-line lift. As far as musical creativity goes, "Worthy" is the standout track. Soft-sung lyrics and a nice intuitive melody give this song a nice color. In all honesty, I think this tune sounds like something the Cowboy Junkies might write. (And that's cool, friends.)
Lyrics: Song stays pretty focused on the idea of redemption, uses mostly cross imagery. I wasn't crazy about the inclusion of "first and last" line in the chorus - feels a little disjointed from the rest of the tune. Second verse moves into a different approach to "Worthy" that I didn't quite get, but that's just me.
Accessibility: This tune sounds easy enough to pull off. Keyboardists in live settings might have their hands full, though. The record has at least 3 keys tracks - Hammond, electric piano/rhodes and the aforementioned "music box." (Wait - I just heard a synthy voice pad!) Make it 4! Overall: This tune may be better for personal listening. For churches cool with the very artistic "mellow" song, complete with raspy vocal lines, this tune is perfect.
Never Let Me Go
Music: Built on a nice guitar picking pattern, the tune stays pretty mellow. Even when drums, bass and piano come in, it's still nice. The melody is pretty high, but is excellent nonetheless...the worship leader in me can definitely hear a crowd of people singing this one on a Sunday morning. Lyrics: First verse to chorus works well together. The second verse strays a bit. I'd probably opt to do the first verse again rather than take on the additional thematic direciton. Love the bridge section, a new melody built around the "strength for today and bright hope tomorrow" we all know and love.
Accessibility: This tune is one of those great pieces that can played by almost any team and still sound fantastic. Here, Ben shows some of the gifts that we see in the music of Redman and Hughes - ultimate accessibility.
Overall: The only thing that hurts the song is the thematic push in 2nd verse, which may not bother anybody but me. The melody might be too high for some crowds, but younger audiences will enjoy the higher register shout-singing.
Remain
Music: The last track on the record falls somewhere in between The Cranberries and Jason Morant, a fantastic mellow song with some subtle power. If Christian radio got ahold of this track, it might just make Cantelon a star. It's a nice modern pop tune that grooves on top of a nice clean electric guitar pattern. Nice keyboard touches add some ambience to the loop-like drums section. The chorus opens up nicely, almost orchestral...
Lyrics: Probably the strongest lyrical focus on the record. Cantelon and crew are crystal clear in their communication here.
Accessibility: Again, any praise team worth its salt could do this one. Has some fun parts for drums and keys.
Overall: For me, the standout track on the record because it captures the essence of the anthem that Soul Survior tends to gravitate toward without forsaking Cantelon's own singer-songwriter vibe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Records like this are great because they're so fresh. Up until my pal handed me this CD, I had never heard of Ben Cantelon, and I'd assume the same for many of you. Grab a copy of "Daylight Breaks Through" and enjoy digging into a remarkably mellow and meaningful worship release.