MP3: Namur - Draw us near
The best religious music is ostensibly about struggle. Not just the struggle between good and evil/heaven and hell, but the struggle of faith. Remember, the name Israel (as given to Jacob) literally means "to wrestle with angels" or, to extrapolate further, to wrestle with God or even to wrestle with the idea of God itself. The music of Namur possesses a yearning quality that exemplifies this, the struggle to put faith into song, to cleave to God in a meaningful way. There's no hokey sentimentalism, rather there is honest feeling and emotion. You'd never know it from the sound of most contemporary "worship music", but faith is not necessarily an easy thing. Heartfelt platitudes, however well-intentioned, don't do it justice. When faith is challenged and those challenges overcome, only then can be considered strong. Namur is sacred music, but not in the way you might expect, but in a way that I find eminently satisfying. It's glorious, but it is not so easily accessible. The title itself, "Draw us near", suggests an absence or a distance to be traversed. By burying his vocals deep in the mix, David Åhlén further muddles the contention of the subject matter. We struggle to do good, to be closer to God, but it is not easy. Or, to flip the biblical decree that "God made us in His image" on its head, perhaps we struggle to be more like God ourselves (if this is the case, may your God be benevolent and kind as opposed to angry and full of wrath). Essentially, an insurmountable task; a job that will never be truly finished. I hear this music as a way of reaching out and it moves me, even though we don't share the same faith. It's Namur's passion that is most important and, on this track, that passion is unmistakable.
Namur - Draw us near