Songs
1. All For Christ
2. Have Mercy On Me
3. Spirit Of God
4. Come Thou Fount
5. You Shall Be Praised
Albums
All For ChristWorship Leaders
My BlogNick J Drake
Some artists write songs that reflect the journey they have been on. Others use their words and melodies to signpost the way forward. Nick J Drake, in his debut album for Survivor Records, does both. Brilliantly.'
'All For Christ' has grown out of years as worship pastor at St Paul's, Hammersmith, London - a church community that has worked hard to explore ways of marrying Anglican tradition with charismatic expression. The result is what they call 'deep church' and it's not at all hard to hear the influence on Nick's collection of songs. From the epic space of 'You Shall Be Praised' to the expansive and utterly engaging 'Spirit Of God', Nick's songs have the power to draw people in to a deeper, fresher experience of the Holy Spirit.'
"I've been writing for a couple of years," explains Nick, "And this question about how you marry the traditional with the contemporary has been really important for us. So the sound of the album is organic - lots of piano and clean drums - all stripped back, simple, letting the music and instruments speak. And this is also the style of St Paul's; to pick the best of any stream and use them to create space in which people can encounter the Holy Spirit.
Nick grew up in the Wirral, among a Christian family. School was followed by a degree in theology at Durham University, followed by a year or two pursuing success with Coastal Dune, a band Nick was in, fronted by his wife Becky. After that came a move down south to be a part of Trent Vineyard for a year, where the church's openness to the Holy Spirit set Nick on a new path.
Nick moved down to London after that, joining St Paul's in 2003 as worship pastor, taking on the running of a team of 50 volunteers and working together with Becky to write a whole load of all-age worship songs. At the same time Nick started an MA at Kings College where he looked into Charismatic theology, and the twin themes of Nick's work began to come to the surface.
Those who don't know Nick's work will find his take on worship songwriting refreshing. His theological background doesn't result in the type of songs that you need a concordance and a dictionary to get through. "The idea of 'songwriters being the theologians of the church' just doesn't make sense to me. These songs are not essays, they're poetry set to music and you can't be expected to get to the same place as someone writing a whole book.
"I'm about God's presence, I'm about 'encounter' because that's where stuff happens and that's where people get changed. And it matters to me to have the theological language and map so that God's presence can be articulated well."
With those two in hand - the space for God to work and the framework for people to understand more deeply - Nick's album marks the start of a captivating journey.
