Louder Than The Music

Atlanta-based songwriter and worship leader Aaron Keyes has been discussing his second album 'Dwell', due for release on 21st June 2011, alongside the album's co-producer, former Delirious? guitarist Stu G. The 13 song album was also co-produced by John Hartley (Matt Redman, Rebecca St. James), and was formed after narrowing down a list of more than 60 songs that Aaron had 'road tested' while leading worship.

Discussing his co-producers, Aaron says "John is so great at identifying and producing songs that connect with congregations and Stu G lives in these new fresh, artistic sounds, so I think we've struck a good balance, with singable melodies that are sonically not as predictable as something we would've done years ago."

In turn, producer Stu G who also contributed guitars to the album, adds "One of the toughest jobs we had on Dwell was choosing which songs to leave off! The songs we ended up with work so well together because they all come out of authentic experience and have been tried and tested in a corporate environment. What I love about Aaron is not only his desire to write new songs that serve the church, but also his desire to lead well and raise up new leaders by opening up his home and sharing his life. Dwell is about more than simply music and singing."

"It doesn't seem right that I can go to some of the biggest worship conferences in the world and see some of the biggest worship leaders and no one's saying anything about the Bible," Keyes explains. "It makes me nervous because if the Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, if we’re leading without it, we’re leading people into darkness. We want to shift what worship leading looks like, from worship leaders simply leading songs to worship pastors leading people to knowing God better, to resting our hearts in Him, to expressing our hearts to him - physically, instinctively, fully, expressively... not just emotion, passion and excitement, but to declare the promises of God in the Bible with reverence and orthodoxy."

"Our personal worship, our willingness to abide or dwell in the shelter of the Lord, it's so connected to God moving on our behalf, moving for us, to the Kingdom of God advancing around us. It would be easier to rely on our own talent," continues Keyes, because then you "don't have to rely on God. You don’t actually have to listen to the voice of God or discern what He's doing. If you've got your set list, your band is together and you can kill it, you can survive in most contexts of worship. But to really spend time in God's presence, soaking in the Word of God, internalizing what it says, giving your life away, that takes a lot of time... it's so much easier to write, record and tour than it is to lead people to know God through the hard stuff, really leading people over time."

Check out the LTTM review of 'Dwell' on Monday!

'Dwell' Track Listing:
1. O My Soul
2. I Am Not The Same
3. Sovereign Over Us
4. Song of Moses
5. Dwell
6. In The Name Of God
7. Only Just Begun
8. Sinless Savior
9. Life Without My God
10. Raised Me Up
11. Every Knee Will Bow Down
12. Hope Is Dawning
13. Lavish