When he opened up this opportunity to his fans, the message spread quickly – and soon almost 10,000 stories were submitted. Rather than write about what he was experiencing in his life, he asked his fans to submit the stories of their lives. Not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at aįor his new record, Matthew West did something unusual: He turned the microphone around. Views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may Not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. The opinions expressed in this article are This is, overall, an admirable project - quite possibly Matthew West's best so far. The song that shines brightest is mostly likely "The Reason for the World", which feels genuinely wise it also stands taller than the others being free of the awkwardness of addressing a particular topic, and would have made a better closing track than the one West actually chose. There is a love they can never steal, and you don't have to stay the broken girl." The lyrics are smarter on number nine and the feeling more palpable, escaping the clichés of the previous track and it's rather annoying and empty "ooing". On the former he celebrates cancer sufferers who have reached remission - "'Cause you're a survivor, nothing can stop you now, nothing can back you down" - and on the latter he's more clearly the preacher, telling us, "This is a song for the broken girl", then telling that girl, "You're not the worthless they made you feel. But he breaks from this approach with the twosome "Survivors" and "Broken Girl", tracks eight and nine.
Ostensibly, though, Matthew is singing about himself in this, and he even did on "Two Houses", taking the stories as inspiration and producing something personal. In "Strong Enough" (a song more affecting than it deserves to be with its easy pop sound) West answers a girl wondering why God has given her as much as 11 surgeries to deal with by quoting his favourite Bible verse, the hopeful message that when strength comes from God it is enough to do all things. One of the less general tracks is the wistful "Two Houses", which, taking an odd direction for a pop song, goes socially retroactive and condemns the rise of divorce. Sometimes the result is a straightforward worship song other times the subject comes out more overtly. After two introductory songs, the remaining nine are based more or less directly on these stories.
If an album of Christian songs is thought to be necessarily conceptual, the one behind 'The Story Of Your Life' is stronger and more deliberate than most, coming by way of a private songwriting retreat and an appeal for life stories from fans. I don't know if Christian music produces less concept albums, on average, than non-Christian music, but this new work by Matthew West feels quite distinctive.
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