Saturday, March 19, 2016

Remix: Tori Kelley

Watching NBC's The Voice this week, there was a segment where Adam had asked Tori Kelly to help mentor his team in the Battle Rounds. Natalie Yacovazzi and Nate Butler performed Kelly's "Hollow" during their battle.

So hold me
Wrap me in love, fill up my cup
Empty and only your love can fill up my cup
Cause I'm hollow

While watching her coach these two on the song, four words she said jumped out to me -- "since it's about God". Now, that may not be news to everyone, but as much as I love to discover new music and artists and was aware of some of Kelly's story, I hadn't listened to much of her music. Takes me a little longer for me to get there with the 'pop' sound. Now with the realization that she is a woman of faith, I had a new desire to give her album a listen and dig deeper.

While running today I listened to the album. Some lyrics from some of the songs jumped out (click on the links to hear the songs as well) -

City Dove:

All I know is I'm holdin' on

I haven't figured anything out
I haven't figured anything anything anything out

City dove, fly between the buildings and fences
Soft inside but rough on the edges
Waiting here for something to come just holdin' on

Try to get to the heart of it
Fly low but lookin' for Heaven
I know, I know I'm holding on


Something Beautiful:


Breathe in and let it go, oh
Your tears are not for nothing
Let them fall off
In every tear drop there is something beautiful, oh
You are stronger than you know, oh
Oh you're something beautiful

Falling Slow:

But here I am, just a lot of broken pieces
I don't plan to leave and break your heart

[Chorus:]
What if I messed up? Would you give up on us?
Would you tear the page out like it never ever happened?
What if I told you you're doing fine? Stay cool
Swear I'll make it worthwhile, baby
You should know I'm always falling slow in love
Slow in love
Falling slow in love

Unbreakable Smile:

The way you live your life, depends on you
That’s when I realized I wanna make a difference
Use my name for good and change the game I could

Sure there is a bit of flirtation on the record too, that comes from being young and trying to find love - but the overwhelming themes are about love, commitment, loyalty, hope ... and just goes to prove that a Christian can make music anywhere, not just on a Christian label. Maybe this is part of what it really takes too to bring change to this world.

Here's a clip of Tori singing John Mark McMillan's How He Loves and another of Kari Jobe's Revelation Song - both from 2011.

Makes so much sense that I like her. She grew up listening to one of my favorite Christian artists from the 80's, Crystal Lewis.

If you're not a fan - hopefully you'll give Tori a first listen or at least a re-mix.