Lives On The Line, Songs For Our Troubled Times – Rev. Peter Unger (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Even from the perspective of a music reviewer, I can see that there is a shift in the intent and message driving an increasingly more visible sector of new music. People feel more and more that they should speak out about the dark clouds which seem to be gathering around us at the moment. But whilst most take to loading their songs with rhetoric and political poignancy, with counter punch and often outright rabble rousing, Peter Unger takes a different route. His path is one of comforting, offering people a shoulder to cry on, someone to lead on, support and a crutch to help get through difficult times.

As always his music comes from a very obvious, religious position but as always he gets his message across in the gentlest of ways, he may be advocating the acknowledgement of a higher power but is music is both totally human and wonderfully humane. Songs such as You Are Not Alone speak for themselves, but the imagery is that which any of us can relate to and the drive behind it avuncular rather than preaching. Blood on Our Hands takes a more judgemental tack but he is saying nothing that those in the more secular world aren’t also proposing and River is a lilting country song which takes a more direct approach to the message.

His music is the usual deft blend of lilting folk and country accessibility and whilst it is obviously a vehicle for the message that he holds dear, it is also music which can be appreciated in its own right as his dexterous picking and resonant vocals combine into subtle and supple tunes. And if the lyrical content offers up something that you find appealing, then so much the better.