I’ve recently discovered Little Boots, one of the few (or only?!) synthpop artists with clean lyrics – plus she’s a little more “synth” and less “pop” .  She’s from the UK, so it’s very difficult to get her full album (yet), but you can get her earlier EP and watch the videos Earthquake and Remedy online.

For the past few months, I had considered creating a soundtrack for the book I’m writing, so when I heard she was doing a remix competition with a deadline in 1 month, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to take a month off of writing and try my hand at making music.

Now, a month later, the remix is complete. Huge thanks to my wife, Jessica, for being gracious while I threw countless morning, evening and weekend hours into this project – the first half of the month just learning the software (indescribably frustrating) – and the second half trying to teach myself the requisite music theory (I will read some music composition/theory before attempting this again) and actually write the music.

So without further ado, here is my remix: Earthquake – Unashamed Studios Mix (and of course I wouldn’t mind if you voted for it or commented on it )

First, I’m no fan of the CD cover-art (sorry, John – you have a nice face, but the mummy thing looks a bit cheesy), but the t-shirt sports some dark and edgy art instead.

By far, my favorite two songs are Monster and Sometimes, which are brutally honest. Monster: “stay away from me / the beast is ugly / i feel the rage and i just can’t hold it / it’s scratching on the walls / in the closet, in the halls / it comes awake and i can’t control it”. Sometimes: “Sometimes I find it hard to believe / there’s someone else who could be / just as messed up as me”.

Lucy comes in just under those two, a slow ballad which I’m guessing is about an aborted baby: “I left a dozen roses on your grave today … I’ve gotta live with the choices I made / and I can’t live with myself today … I’ll see you in another life / in heaven where we never say goodbye / Here we are, now you’re in my arms / here we are for a brand new start”.

On the next tier are Hero, Awake & Alive and Forgiven. All solid songs with good themes, cool strings and guitars, standard Skillet fare – but now we’ve got Jen Ledger doing some female vocals which add an awesome, piercing dimension. Lyrically, there is a definite leaning towards our ability and responsibility to change the world and make a difference (which would make sense, given that I’ve heard Skillet is Amillennial/”let’s-usher-in-the-kingdom”). I had too much “you can change the world” kool-aid in high school, but I actually find it refreshing now – a much-needed balance of perspective, since I now run in circles that often over-emphasize the Sovereignty of God.

The six songs above are definitely worth the price of the album.

Never Surrender (Make Me Feel Better) and One Day Too Late are ok I guess, but Never Surrender feels a bit overly emotion-driven and content-less – and One Day Too Late is a great message, but it seems like it’s been said on almost every CD I own and I wish Skillet had worked harder on saying it differently or more creatively…

It’s Not Me It’s You is musically good and heavy, but lyrically… the only one I feel comfortable singing this song to is the devil – and it’s appropriate for him, as our accuser – but the verses make it clear it’s directed to a person: “So here we go again / the same fight we’re always in / i don’t care so why pretend / wake me when your lecture ends / you tried to make me small / make me fall and it’s all your fault / with the pain you put me through / and now I know that it’s not me it’s you”. The heavy dose of blame is very similar to Collide’s Open Wounds; I’m sure it strikes a chord with hurting and abused teens, but doesn’t seem exemplary. I much prefer the way Plumb relates to the same audience, but turns it in an exemplary direction with the song Damaged (Redemption extended version).

Don’t Wake Me, Should’ve When You Could’ve and Believe are my least favorite songs on the album. John Cooper mentioned in an interview that the sentiment in Don’t Wake Me is juvenile/high school. I feel that way about all three songs. I realize that Skillet’s working to reach secular high school students and that I’m definitely not in that target audience. These songs authentically explore the various sides of immature high-school relationships. My hope is that high school students – even immature ones – appreciate older people shedding some mature light on their experiences, helping them understand, interpret and react to them — unfortunately, Skillet doesn’t seem to go beyond the experiences themselves in these three songs.

Don’t get me wrong — Skillet is still one of my favorite bands and some of these songs are incredible. I can’t imagine the pressures of success, working with Howard Benson and trying to reach a secular audience. It is admittedly a bit of a bummer for a single Skillet CD to have three songs I don’t like. Now for a bit of a pipe-dream: what if Skillet pulled away from nu-metal a bit and tried blending in a little gothic metal (Lacuna Coil) or new-wave electronic (The Faint)? What if Skillet mixed in richer theology (Lecrae’s Rebel) or poetic cosmic truth (Project 86′s Picket Fence Cartel)? One can always dream…