Lights of Distant Cities
| Lights of Distant Cities | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Bebo Norman | ||||
| Released | October 23, 2012 | |||
| Genre | Contemporary Christian music, folk | |||
| Length | 40:40 | |||
| Label | BEC | |||
| Producer | Bebo Norman Gabe Scott Ben Shive |
|||
| Bebo Norman chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |  |
| AllMusic |   |
| CCM Magazine | |
| Christian Broadcasting Network |   |
| Christian Music Zine | (4.25/5) |
| Christianity Today | |
| Cross Rhythms |   |
| Indie Vision Music | |
| Jesus Freak Hideout |
|
| Louder Than The Music | |
| New Release Tuesday | |
| Worship Leader | |
Lights of Distant Cities is the eighth and final studio album by contemporary Christian musician Bebo Norman. The album is the fourth with BEC Recordings, and his eleventh album overall including his first independent release. This album was released on October 23, 2012, and the producers are Bebo Norman, Gabe Scott and Ben Shive. This album has seen chart and critical reception successes, since it has been released.
Bebo Norman told CCM Magazine's Caroline Lusk in the October 2012 edition that he "'found that this particular record is one of the more pure representations of me in a long time,...I just feel like I'm at a place that I'm okay with whatever happens on a musical and life level.'" Norman explained that "'this record was written in two different seasons...,I had slipped into sort of this desert season. Life had caught up with me. When I get into that place when I feel distant from God, I start to question a lot of things, doubt a lot of things. If this world looks like it's falling apart, then love is not winning, God is not winning. If God is not winning, is God really God?'" He shines some light on the evolution of how this album came into existence, which Norman told "'this all just snuck up on me and in the process of expressing those songs I wanted to be really honest,...I didn't have an answer for everything. So I went on a trip by myself. It was one of the first times I fasted. I had this really beautiful kind of awakening experience. It was very simple…no lighting bolts bolts, no big dream. It was very subtle, very surreal, life altering'". Norman foretold how he "'...stumbled on this quote from the German mystic Meister Eckhart, 'If the soul could have known God without the world, the God would never have created the world.' There is a real goodness about God. Even when it seems the world has gone dark, there are still beautiful things to hope for".
Norman told that the song "Lights of Distant Cities" "'...is the most joyful song on the record,...It was represented by hope and that was kind of the goal, especially on songs with a darker lyrical content. In the production phase, the real goal is to create moments where the contrast is very represented—hope and lack of hope. That's where Gabe and Ben really took off and ran with things.'"
On working with Gabe Scott, Norman told that "'he's played nearly every show I've done,...But we had never once written a song together.'" Now, they have written numerous songs on this album. In addition, Norman suggested "'they [Gabe and Ben] have this idea where they look at the music itself as an emotional component. What does joy sound like? We started from that angle and they took the whole record in a direction that was totally new. It has this real songwriter feel to it.'"
...
Wikipedia