[Update 07.07.2009]

For those of you who've already found us, and maybe even had a look at the lead sheets for the tunes below, here's the final piece of the 4ITF experience. On Sunday night, we finally got all the necessary bits of kit in one place (and stayed awake long enough) to record the end of our rehearsal. The sound is simply a live feed from the output of the graphic that we use in church, so it's raw, a little rough around the edges, and it's entirely one take without any subsequent processing...

...or to put it simply, this is as close as we can get you to being there with us as we try to take the vision and run with it. We can hear some improvement, but over the next few months, we're hoping that you will enjoy this front-row seat in our journey, and maybe even send us some of your suggestions as we move towards the moment when we finally have it together enough to hit the studio for real.

Just click on the coloured link below to download the track :

Hurricane - Rehearsal Track


[Update 29.06.2009]

Well we promised more tunes for you, and here they are! The first two 4ITF tracks to go into the rehearsal rooms ready for our summer schedule. Over the next few weeks we'll be working on the finished arrangements for the songs, and we'll try to get you some sounds from our practice sessions so that you can listen in as the songs develop. For those of you who've heard the various events and combinations of singers that have gone before, some of these may be familiar, but now it's time for us to take them to the next level. Let us know if you enjoy them :


A Greater Love Than This

A greater love than this is not out there
A Love that bears no grudges
A Love that tells no lies
A Love that knows no limits to its kindness
A Love that always yields but doesn't compromise
A Love that knows the truth but doesn't keep its distance
That draws you to its heart and looks you in the eyes
A Love that takes your hand when you're fallen
And gently helps you rise


Greater love no man has had than this
[Do you know that you are wanted]
To see your need and choose to sacrifice
[Do you long to be alive]
To bear a Cross and cry, 'Father forgive them'
[Are you calling out for mercy]
To welcome broken thieves in Paradise
[Today, today...]


A greater love than this is not waiting
A Love to break your chains and lead you from your cell
A Love that gives you grace to face tomorrow
And whispers, 'It is well' [it is well]
A Love that sees your scars but never speaks in judgement
That suffered for your healing and takes away your shame
A Love that binds your wounds when you're bleeding
And makes you whole again [It says your debt is paid]


A greater love than this is not calling
The prodigal back home, the foreigner to come
A Love that reaches out to those who hate it
And longs to name them, 'Sons'
A Love that bought our peace by going out to battle
That took a servants place for slaves to be made free
A Love that stretches out through the darkness
To make the blind eyes see

Copyright 2009 Dylan L. C. Thomas :: For licensing information please contact Dylan

This next tune has become something of a signature for us in the Harvest Cafes. It's based on a John Tavener idea, that if everything has its season, then for the great winds of the earth, it was Pentecost. Of course, we're a little more 'country' than Tavener, but we're also desperate for God to come in power by His Holy Spirit and fan the flames of revival in our time, and our place :


Hurricane


What a day this seems to be
It seems passing strange to me
See the clouds go skipping by
But I cannot touch the wind
Or taste the Living Breeze
What a day this seems to be
Sails of windmills gently spin
But we'll see the dancing trees
Before the Hurricane begins

Oh hurry back Hurricane
Oh hurry back - Hurricane


What a day this seems to be
Glowing embers all around
But I'm running out of air
Don't want to see those lights go out
Field on field of smoking reeds
Hidden passion deep within
There's a raging fire to blaze
Once the Hurricane begins


Say, His fan is in His hand
There's a Fire that He'll bring
All the chaff be swept away
Now all the grain begin to sing
City set upon the Hill
Throw your shutters open wide
There's a world of dark to save
But the Fire Light's inside

Copyright 2009 Dylan L. C. Thomas :: For licensing information please contact Dylan

*Click on the song title to open an web page with a copy of the lead sheet and lyrics

[Update 22.06.2009]

Watch this space over the next couple of months as we begin to record rehearsal sessions and start working towards a debut EP. Just to get you started though, here's some vintage Dylan from the worship archives :


You are the Sovereign Great I Am

You are the Sovereign Great I Am
Creative Word Who spoke and all of time began
You're the one Who doesn't change
All authority is vested in Your Name
But You loved me
And You died to buy me life
Through eternity You'd always planned
To be my Sacrifice
You have broken chains that bound me
You have brought me to Your Throne
Now I live - To worship You alone

You are holy, You are worthy, You are wonderful (rpt x3)
To me

There is nothing I could bring
If it were not for the grace that You have shown
Nothing as an offering
Not one precious gift or treasure of my own
When You saved me
I was broken from the fight
But You placed in me the fulness
Of Your righteousness and life
From a heart that knows the passion
Of the Love that first loved me
I will sing - You're my Prophet, Priest and King

Copyright 2003 Dylan L. C. Thomas :: CCLI No. 4791403



*Click on the song title to open an web page with a copy of the lead sheet and lyrics