Caroline Cobb Releases A Seed, A Sunrise: Advent to Christmas Songs
Acclaimed singer, songwriter Caroline Cobb launches her third album, A Seed, A Sunrise: Advent to Christmas Songs, to streaming, digital and retail outlets internationally Nov. 20. Her first project to be distributed through Integrity Music and available to pre-save now, the recording is beautifully crafted with rich, biblical imagery, artful arrangements and poetic lyrics, stirring up both the longing for Jesus and the joy of his coming to help the Church rehearse and remember God’s Story.
Following her acclaimed A Home & A Hunger album, named one of the “Best Albums of the 2010s” by The Gospel Coalition and listed among Under the Radar’s “Best Gourmet Albums of 2017,” A Seed, A Sunrisebuilds on Caroline’s previous full-length projects, both of which trace a biblical theme from creation to Christ’s return. For the new recording, Cobb draws heavily from Isaiah and other Old Testament prophets as well as the gospel narratives.
“When I looked at the lyrics and Scripture references for A Seed, A Sunrise, I noticed light and garden imagery woven throughout. But it wasn’t just light, it was more like a longing for the dawn after a long, dark night. And it wasn’t just a garden, it was the hope of beauty growing up from the desert, the hope of a tiny seed bringing forth the green of Eden in a desolate wilderness.”
Recorded live in the studio in February and produced by Isaac Wardell (Josh Garells, Sandra McCracken), the album also features Tyler Chester (Madi Cunningham, Switchfoot), Andrew Osenga (Andrew Peterson, Caedmon’s Call), gospel trio Resound (Lauren Daigle) and a fourteen-piece string orchestra.
The lead single from A Seed, A Sunrise, “Comfort, Oh Comfort,” which is available at digital and streaming outlets everywhere via https://ffm.to/comfort.opr, also becomes the album’s first concept video that premieres today from Worship Leader. Focusing on the longing of Advent and the joy of Christmas, “Comfort, Oh Comfort” continues Cobb’s passion to tell the stories of Scripture through music with imagination, artistry and faithfulness to the text.
“I wrote this song for a friend walking through a hard season with her adult daughter,” shares Cobb, who draws from passages in Isaiah that speak of gardens coming from the wasteland and rivers streaming in the desert. “But as I sang it, I realized it was also for me: there were ‘scorched and dry’ places in my life, seasons shadowed by grief. This song speaks comfort into our dry places and reminds us that through Jesus, we have the promise of full restoration one day.”
In the wilderness, the green of Eden
In the wasteland, the garden blooms
Up from the desert, springs a river
For He is making everything new
(Lyrics from “Comfort, Oh Comfort” chorus)
A Seed, A Sunrise also features “Joy (As Far as the Curse Is Found)” and “Hallelujah, Christ Is Born,” both rejoicing in the long-awaited birth of Jesus, and “There Will Be A Day (Isaiah 2)” and “Be on the Lookout,” which remind us to look with hope toward Jesus’ second arrival, even as we work to “take to the world his love and justice, singing ‘let his kingdom come!’”
“Although we recorded this album just before the upheaval of 2020 began, these songs of longing and finding hope in Jesus seem all the more relevant in the midst of racial injustice, political division, fires, hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Caroline. “My prayer is that these songs will be a needed balm for us, giving voice to both the desperate cry ‘how long, O Lord?’ and to the unwavering hope we have in Jesus. Longing and hope are not mutually exclusive. We need both right now.”
While her original touring plans for this fall fell through due to the pandemic, Cobb is finding ways to share the new music in churches, backyards, online and in other responsible ways, all following local COVID-19 guidelines. Her current schedule follows:
10/25 - Dallas, TX - the Thomas Backyard
11/05 - Kaufman, TX w/ Paul Demer
11/06 - Longview, TX - FBC food truck event
11/15 - Houston, TX - Private Event
12/13 - Lindale, TX - Behold: Christmas Concert
