REVIEW REVISITED: Aaron Keyes – “Dwell”

By my standards, Dwell – by Atlanta area worship pastor/artist Aaron Keyes – is one of the all-around best corporate worship CDs of all-time. Serious! StuG’s production is fresh, even by todays standards, the songwriting is Grade A, & the songs are almost all corporate, & adaptable for almost any style of congregation. To top it all off, this is where Michael W. Smith‘s latest hit single, “Sovereign over Us”, originated from! If you’re looking for a great listen, but also would like to find a number of singable, new-to-you corporate songs to use for your congregation, look no further. Here’s the “revisited” review…
(stick around after the review for links to my live interviews of Aaron, as well)
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Artist: Aaron Keyes
Release: Dwell
Label: Kingsway

Highlights: “I am not the Same”, “Sovereign over Us”, “Song of Moses”, “Dwell”, & “Lavish Your Love”

I vividly remember when I first heard Chris Tomlin’s newly released CD “Not to Us”.  Up to that point, apart from a couple “worship hits”, Tomlin’s catalogue had been pretty pedestrian, yet out of the blue he released a CD from which I used no less than 7 songs corporately, & which was a trend-setter production-wise for the next several years. Enter “Dwell” by Aaron Keyes.

Don’t get me wrong, Aaron has written a few very powerful songs in the past: “You never cease to amaze Me” was a great high energy praise song, “Psalm 62” – co-written with Stuart Townend – was one of the better modern hymns written in the past 10 years, & “Not Guilty Anymore” turned me into a teary-eyed mess the first 10 or 20 times I heard it.  But Aaron’s first two CDs are world’s away from what I found here.

“Dwell” as a CD is a wonderful sonic hybrid of mainstream modern worship, like Chris Tomlin & Matt Redman, with elements of European techno and electronica, and even – at times – folk.  It sounds surprisingly fresh, but not so strange as to be off-putting.

There are no less than 9 sure-fire corporate home-runs here – yes, you heard me right – 9 – unheard of for most modern worship releases.  The songwriting is of such a high caliber that it’s actually hard to pick favorites.  The lyrics are unquestionably Biblical – you could lead mulit-week Bible studies from some of these – the production is crisp, and the playing energetic & tight.  Honestly, I haven’t heard anything else like it – it’s that good.

If I had to pick favorites, my top 5 (for corporate use, especially) would be:

• “I am not the Same” – co-written with members of Unhindered & Matt Redman – is an unforgettable anthem, & immediately contagious.  This song originated as part of the song “Breathe” from Grace Midtown’s live worship CD, & the chorus has stuck with me ever since.
• “Sovereign over Us” is one of the best Biblical portraits of our huge God that I’ve ever heard, & has great radio potential as well.
• “Song of Moses” – co-written with Chris Moerman, Unhindered, & Graham Kendrick – is the greatest modern hymn since Kristian Stanfill led the re-invigorated “Jesus Paid it All” at Passion several years back.
• “Dwell”, the title tracks, is a beautiful keys-driven Scripture ballad.
• “Lavish your Love” – co-written, again, with the boys from Unhindered – is a youthful fist-pumping techno romp.  It’s my kids favorite song on the CD!
• Others I’d consider using corporately: “O my Soul”, “Only Just Begun”, “Raised me Up” & “Every Knee will Bow”.

It’s not often that a CD like this comes around: if you’re skeptical, download my highlights, grab the charts, & see.  These are songs that will be with us for years to come.  Thanks Aaron!

Have you led anything of Aaron’s in your church, & is so, what, & why? I’d love to hear from you!

If you’d like to know more about Aaron & his ministry, I’ve also interviewed Aaron a couple of times on this site, which are viewable HERE & HERE.