Make It Out Alive music review
Make It Out Alive, music album by Kristian Stanfill. Reviewed by Mo Friesen, EMC Director, Next Generation.
“I’ll take down all my defenses / And I’ll let down my guard … So You can, show me who You really are” (“Show Me Who You Really Are,” Make It Out Alive by Kristian Stanfill).
My interest in this album was birthed out of an Instagram post by the artist Kristian Stanfill that simply said. “2 years (730 days total).” Stanfill, a well-known contemporary worship leader, became vulnerable with the world by sharing that he was two years sober after an alcohol addiction.
In an online interview with Randy Robison on LIFE Today Live, Stanfill shares that this album was “written in a time of recovery” and that while writing these songs he was “writing for survival.”
Stanfill hit rock bottom and recalls in an interview with Louie and Shelley Giglio, “I started to look in the mirror and take a real honest look at who I had become after years of isolating, hiding and pretending. And I did not like it … but I didn’t know another way, so I kept going” (“The Power of Vulnerability: A Conversation,” YouTube.com, Nov. 11, 2022). Then life forced his hand and just stopped him. In this time of brokenness, he and his wife reached out to their pastor and began the process of recovery and healing with help of counsellors and other professionals.
This album is an honest look at life in the valleys. While these songs were not specifically written for use in corporate worship settings, they are intended to encourage humanity to seek God in times of hardship and struggle.
The album has relatively simple instrumentation and Stanfill’s voice takes on a more vulnerable and sensitive character than is heard on other recordings in which he is featured.
In the title track of the album, Stanfill sings, “Step into the furnace / Let the fire serve its purpose / It’s painful in the flame / But it’s what it takes to change / If you want a resurrection / Then dying has to happen / This death is not the end / It’s where your life begins.” These words express an understanding that God’s discipline is an expression of God’s love for us. While the process may be painful, it is necessary to become more like Jesus.
The songs that follow are reflections of real life and an honest pursuit of relationship with God in the midst of these trials and valleys.
If I were to choose a favourite song from the album it would be “We Need People.” It acknowledges that the natural response for many of us in times of distress is to isolate for our own protection and so that others won’t see our weakness. But healing often occurs in the constraints of caring and honest relationships.
If you are walking through challenges in your life, this album may be a soundtrack that can bring you comfort and hope. There are times of lament, moments of hope and colourful pictures of God’s love. Give it a listen.
