RiseVibes: The Anti-Fall Movement ‘Away My Needless Fears’

I’ll be honest from the outset; I don’t listen to worship music when I’m not at church. It’s not that I dislike it, I just feel like I get enough of that style of music at church. The Anti-Fall Movement has changed this; their take on worship music for the everyday is fresher than that first breath of air when you arrive at that longed for coastal vacation. The angle of their approach is to take hymns from the 1700 and 1800’s and ungird it with a timeless rock music sound inspired from the 1960’s.

The album opens with a soul version of Take Them All with a funky feel and background female diva’s crooning away “all I have I give to thee”. The steady groove, cool moog synthesizers and repeated chorus of Happy People creeps into your psyche and reminds you that happy people are “in His love secure”. While the rockabilly edge of When We Cannot See hits with a Johnny Cash vibe.

The River sees the sound stripped back to two singers and an acoustic guitar; it drops the pace and adds an extra sense of diversity to the album. The sweet vocal harmonies and treble focus of Green Hill is reminiscent of 10cc’s soft-rock classic I’m not in Love; but lyrically it couldn’t be further removed, as Cecil Frances Alexander’s words testify to the unparalleled power of the cross.

‘Away My Needless Fears’ is blessed by never being too obvious; they resist “rocking it out” too hard or choosing over-played standards. Instead The Anti-Fall Movement have dug out hymns that have significant lyrical substance but are also still relatable and relevant to 21st century listeners. The album concludes with the title track which is a glorious reworking of Charles Wesley at his best, this song starts quietly and gradually builds up to a beautiful and modest crescendo.

Unquestionably, ‘Away My Needless Fears’ is the most uplifting album I’ve heard in a long time. The Anti-Fall Movement could be described as alt-gospel, alt-soul or timeless rock but more than anything what they do breathes new life into the worship music genre.

The album is available online at theanti-fallmovement.bandcamp.com

Reviewer: Scott Berry