Bring Glory

Sounds like … a mix of adult contemporary pop and contemporary worship, resembling the work of Travis Cottrell, Paul Alan, 4Him, Keith Green, and Michael CardAt a glance … some of the songs resort to routine AC pop and worship, but a handful of standout tracks help make Bring Glory a pretty good introduction of Scott Riggan to a broader audienceTrack Listing Great Is the Lord Lift (I Cannot Be Silent) Lay Me Down I Live to Praise You Holy Is the Lord Altar of My Heart Full Heart My Eyes Are Dry Matches Bring Glory Show Them Jesus**. I Love You Lord

An independent for the last ten years, Scott Riggan says he's not entirely comfortable being labeled as a worship artist. Sure, he's certainly recorded some live worship albums, covered familiar worship songs (including a popular reworking of "I Love You Lord"), and written some worshipful originals, but the songwriter also likes to cover subjects outside of that calling as well. It's interesting then that when people encouraged him to record a worship album, he ended up with a collection of songs about what it means to worship.

Of course, Bring Glory still includes enough worshipful material to gain nationwide distribution and radio play through Spring Hill Worship. "Bring Glory" and "Lift (I Cannot Be Silent)" are both pleasant adult contemporary styled worship songs, though a little generic lyrically. "I Live to Praise You" is similarly routine and has some cheap drum programming, but benefits from some nice musical touches. But Riggan offers an interesting arrangement of Michael W. Smith's "Great Is the Lord," syncopated to 4/4 time, and he resurrects Keith Green's all-too-brief "My Eyes Are Dry" with similar sparseness and passion.

The songs about worship fare better, though "Full Heart" (one of his first songs) and "Show Them Jesus" (a good one about making life an act of worship) sound a little too much like dated AC pop. "Lay Me Down," however, is a terrific anthem of surrender and humility with cool rhythm and an arresting a cappella section. Equally impressive is the darkly hued "Matches," an introspective metaphor about submission, and a nicely contemplative cover of Andrew Peterson's "Holy Is the Lord," a song about Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac as the ultimate act of worship. The somewhat muddy production belies the album's indie origins, but overall Bring Glory offers enough memorable songs to make a fitting national intro for Riggan.