But with "Becoming." KK managed to write songs that were both congregational and deeply honest. And congregational worship music, while more diverse, has always struggled with being derivative, repetitive, and crippled by tradition and history (Many Christians still sing hymns that were written hundreds of years ago in their original format). So often the lyrics in CCM felt like they were written by some corporate guy in an office rather than actually birthed from a person’s genuine experience. More than just a musical masterpiece, this album is also lyrically rich. Chad Gardner's voice, while by no means perfect, seems to have a natural "groove" to it, and fits perfectly within KK's musical landscape. From the jubilant woodwind and horn instruments on album opener "Glorious," to the groovy and aggressive bass in "Felix Culpa," to the sample-laden beats of "Light After Darkness," KK revel in the diversity of their sound. And while the album oscillates and borrows from many genres, they do it so well, it never feels confusing or inauthentic. They incorporated elements of soul, pop, jazz-rock, funk, classical, r&b, and hip hop and birthed an entirely new thing altogether. Rather than going the CCM or “Hillsong formula” route, they used the ancient hymns as a foundation, and built from there.
By some stroke of luck, (or providence), Chad Gardner and co stumbled upon a collection of songs that managed to transcend their genre. If you could go back and listen to this record when it was released, you would immediately realize absolutely nobody in the scene sounded like this. But in 2013 they would enter the studio, and with the production help of local Seattle legends Dustin Kensrue (yes that Kensrue, of Thrice), Brian Echelberger (Citizens, The Sing Team), and Zach Bolen (Citizens), "Becoming Who We Are" was born. They had spent the previous years leading worship at now-defunct megachurch "Mars Hill," and most of their offerings had been short EPs with rearranged hymn covers.
A collective of musicians led by Seattle native (and writer/producer/frontman) Chad Gardner, KK were an odd group.
KINGS AND KALEIDOSCOPE FULL
It was full of innovative people, like Joel Houston (Hillsong), John Mark McMillian, and others, but there was no real incentive for people to innovate, since the formula worked so well for congregational worship.Įnter Kings Kaleidoscope.
Now, to be fair, Hillsong had released Aftermath a couple years prior (2011) which was their attempt at experimenting slightly with electronic sounds and breaking their own formula, but it was definitely a mixed bag, a transition album, with the sounds they were trying to achieve never really reaching their potential until Zion (2014). In this lane, well known worship band Hillsong United had essentially created a formula for what worship music at its best was “supposed” to sound like, and essentially every church or group making music for corporate worship were trying to tap into that success. On the other you had “worship music ” songs made for congregational singing in church. This was essentially the Jeremy Camps, TobyMacs, and Chris Tomlins of the universe, spewing out radio-friendly “I’m a 35 year old evangelical mom who lost her keys and it’s a rough day but God’s going to turn it around and it’ll be a “GOD DAY” songs or some other form of this same formula. On the one hand you had "CCM” (Christian Contemporary Music).
In the year 2013 when this album was being recorded, nearly all the music being made in the “christian music scene” was, for the most part (there are always exceptions), completely homogenous and derivative. Review Summary: Whether by luck, talent, "grace", or a combination of all three, Kings Kaleidoscope wrote a perfect album an album that elevated the potential of what congregational music could be, and changed the landscape of Christian music forever.
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