Lofi worship pioneer sxxnt. and gospel/jazz guitarist Brother Joe team together for their epic debut “Hymns in High-Fidelity”. Having already amassed over 2.5 million streams from just two previous instrumental singles, it was only natural that the production duo would reconnect again. “The idea to do a hymns project came from the desire to pay homage to the rich musical heritage we have as the Church. There’s so much to play with in these timeless tunes and there are many exceptional arrangements already out there, but we felt like approaching it with the mindset of sampling and reinterpreting these melodies into a beat-tape was a new way of engaging with these songs as musicians.”
With the fast rise of Christian lofi in recent years this isn’t an entirely new concept, but what sets this project apart is the care and attention to detail with which Brother Joe & sxxnt. have handled it. “Lofi at its roots is this beautiful sub-genre of hip-hop that is all about sampling older works of music and giving them new life. I think the Church often overlooks instrumental music and views it as having less value to sung worship, and so for this album we really wanted to redeem the genre in a way, show that it can be about bouncing grooves, luscious chords and key changes, truly showcasing joy, lament, worship and other concepts all through our musicianship. The Psalms speak of praising God with instruments, and that’s really what this is for us.”
The result of their musical exploration is a vivid yet peaceful 7-track mini album that plays seamlessly from start to end and serves as a soundtrack to times of contemplative prayer and bible reading. To aid this intention, the album is available on two retro, analogue formats – vinyl record and cassette tape – as well as all the usual music digital services. The hopes are that however it’s listened to, “Hymns in High-Fidelity” can create a space of rest, healing and communion with God whilst anchoring it to the theological truths the original hymns express.
