exchanged living.

Review: Derek Webb’s Feedback

Feedback is the latest musical offering from Derek Webb (of both solo and Caedmon’s Call fame), and it offers something to listeners that Derek has never offered before: a lyric-less canvas of music. Outside of the ending Amen’s of the closing track, we find what Derek’s website describes simply as “an instrumental electronic album”.

Well, Feedback is more than that. A nine-track album structured in three movements, the aim of this album is to create what he calls “something worthy of being called a ‘worshipful’ piece of art.” Following the Lord’s Prayer as its structure, Webb gives us about 37 minutes of soundscape through which to meditate and reflect. 

From there, the artistic dimensions of the album spiral out. With paintings by Scott Erickson and photos by Jeremy Cowart, two incredible visual artists in their respective mediums, Feedback becomes something more than an album. With a corresponding photo and painting to each track, the listener finds themselves being pushed by both the aural and visual fields back into the text being artistically addressed.  This layering is quite purposed; as Erickson puts it,

For me, the layers of these paintings represent the history of the Lord’s prayer itself. Just as we continue to build up and layer over the foundations of our society, so has the journey of entering into the prayer of God. It’s written throughout our history. Though it may at times seem covered up, it’s still amidst all the glitter and decay… speaking to us, telling us about something ancient yet resonating with our life today. (taken from the Feedback website)

Listening to, or should I say taking in this album is something similar to tuning your heart to catch these ancient reverberations: it requires an intentionality that pop music, and even pop-worship, doesn’t emphasize or treasure. Like the prayer itself, Feedback aims to create conversation through deep reflection.

While I’ve listened to Derek’s music for years, I’d never be one to claim to be a huge fan of his catalog. I appreciate his passion and the uncompromising conviction he brings to what he does as a believer and an artist.  I love the fact that he presses buttons in the church that need to be pressed. And there are some songs of his that are just wonderful songs.  But this album hit me differently than his previous work; it ventures in a direction that is courageous, even for Derek. Part of it is because it doesn’t rely on what could be seen as one of his greatest strengths: his prophetic edge.  The unapologetic confrontation of the church and its hypocrisies is one of the major themes in all his solo work; anyone who calls the church a whore and uses profanity to grab her attention and gains listeners shows the place of his music in the life of the church. 

Here, however, Derek presents the listener with a whole new proposition: pray and listen. Deeply reflect on the reality of this prayer and its power. Interact with the Father as the Son directed us. Suddenly this collaborative art piece become a site for contemplating, not just pop-consuming. As his friend Matthew Smith said, “These days, that’s more scandalous than swear words.”

Does it work? As art, yes. As a site for contemplation, possibly.  It will be interesting to see how this album/art is received. And it grows: there is another artistic layer being filmed by film-maker Scott Brignac, a long-time friend of mine. This will continue to lead to a depth in this project that may bring more challenges to the standard pop-worshipper than they desire. But i bet the end result will be much more beautiful and transformative for those who take the artistic journey head-on.

Find the art/album/paintings/photos/etc… here.