Ten Shekel Shirt

Worship-themed music has a longstanding history in the world of Christian music. It’s always been around and it likely always will be. There wasn’t really much problem until the last couple decades, when there was a movement away from thoughtful, theology-based hymns and songs to fluffier songs with poppier choruses. While there’s nothing wrong with adding pop music to worshipful lyrics, often this means sacrificing depth for clichés.

This flies in the face of the artists themselves as they claim how great God is, how He never stays the same, and how there is so much to say in His praise. If there really is that much to say, why do so many end up saying the same thing in the same way? Is it really glorifying to God to reuse the same trite sentiments instead of taking a more personal approach?

This brings us to Ten Shekel Shirt, whose career has been defined by worship music. It’s been five years since their last album, and now lead singer Lamont Heibert has returned under the Ten Shekel Shirt moniker with Jubilee. The first thing that the album evokes is a sense of familiarity. The band’s website claims that TSS has been influenced by Coldplay and Snow Patrol, and I agree, those comparisons are obvious. The problem is, the sound is fairly derivative of those artists. The opening notes of , “Spark”, are the most obvious example of this problem, as you could change the vocalist to Chris Martin and the song could be an old Coldplay b-side, which isn‘t helped by the feel-good lyrics which lack any sort of personal touch which might have made the song that much more interesting and powerful. “Jubilee”, sounds a little too much like a plain, “Chasing Cars”, kind of ballad, though lyrically it’s a fairly decent worship song.

Plain vanilla music is a problem for most of the album, which finds many of the songs blending together and being difficult to tell apart from each other. The album seems to go by very quickly without leaving a whole lot of impact. There are exceptions to this, however, such as, “En Garde”, with it’s programmed beat in ¾ time and surprisingly interesting lyrics which draw from the image of God as the church’s lover. “Wartime Lullaby”, also succeeds in keeping things interesting with a light and catchy melody and lyrics of comfort in time of war. It’s the musical highlight of the album, and one of the few songs which are truly memorable.

“It’s Slavery”, draws from Hiebert’s passion for the abolition of child slavery. It comes out of left field, not sounding like anything else on the album. It grabs people’s attention with more of a rock sound, some samples of children in the background, and lyrics meant to stir people to action rather than just sitting back and watching. It’s easily the most passionate song on the album, making me wish there was more time devoted to this topic rather than bland worship songs.

All told, there’s an EP’s worth of pretty good material in here, which would have probably been the better option, especially after a five year hiatus. Instead TSS offers an album so padded with shallow worship clichés that the more thoughtful songs and closing exhortation are likely to get lost in the shuffle. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see if Hiebert and company release another album, and if they do, whether or not social justice will become more of a focus. If so, then it will likely be worth paying attention.

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