The music of five Biola students is trying to expand beyond the walls of Calvary Chapel to enrapture a larger population in worship. With the release of their first album, Hear the Sound, Parachute Passing, composed of current, former, and Talbot students, has created an impressive self-produced worship experience that is fueled by passion and talent. It’s a worship record, yes, but it’s a worship record that somehow captures the enthusiastic and earnest emotion behind the attitudes of the worshippers and displays mature songwriting miles ahead of the typical Sunday worship service.
The impressive musicianship of the five members of the band and their guest performers is on full display in their new album. The tracklist only contains five songs, but each song seamlessly flows into the next, creating a worshipful symphony. A number of different instruments are layered into each melody, and they all get their fair playing time, blending in and out of the overall backdrop of the song. At times, the bare simplicity of a violin provides a reflective interlude; in other, more victorious songs, staccato percussion punctuates measures of loud guitar riffs. It’s a diverse twenty-five minute experience that transcends the brevity of the entire album.
The lyrics are imbedded in the swelling orchestration of the record, but they speak simple power on their own, all refreshingly aimed heavenward. The best songs are those into which lead singer and songwriter CJ Casciotta packs the full measure of his lyrical capability, such as the crescendoing “Hear the Sound,” which bursts with verse, choruses and bridges. Other songs sometimes fall prey to mantra-like choruses that lose their meaning in repetition. Sometimes this works, such as the impressive “Shine on Me,” which begins with a lullaby-like guitar intro and builds to a repeated chorus of “Could you shine on me?” that grows stronger as it is repeated. Other times, such as on “I’m Yours,” the lyrics drag the more they are sung. It’s an issue that any worship band undoubtedly struggles with, however, and the diverse musical arrangement of their songs allows Parachute Passing to pull it off 95 percent of the time.
The short set of songs that the band released this spring is only a taste of what is to come. The band next performs at their CD-release show, outside of Chick-fil-A on Imperial Highway in La Habra on April 18.
