Ripp + Rice ‘Songs We Wrote on Tuesdays’ Review

Ripp + Rice
Songs We Wrote on Tuesdays
(Independent)

As an unexpected return to music for Chris Rice, and an introduction to the music of Andrew Ripp for Christian music audiences, Ripp + Rice would be worth a listen for the curiosity factor alone. Fortunately, though, it’s worth repeated listening for its brilliance.

Featuring relaxed love songs, heart-wrenching stories of loss, and powerful songs of praise, Songs We Wrote on Tuesdays blurs genre in both music and lyrics. It’s the result of a unique songwriting process which saw both artists meet (actually on random Tuesdays) to catch up on each other’s lives, and then with no agenda or even notes, they’d write a song.

The process resulted in an organic elocution of human emotion in the context of faith. Certain lyrics will remind fans of Rice’s best work: “What are these shadows circling? / Cherubim or vulture wings? / Either way, they’ve come for me / and that don’t change / what I believe.” Ripp adds diversity to the musicality and his own stories, including his family relationships and a journey of adoption with his wife.

Just a few days into 2019, these songwriters already have released an album that should stand as one of the year’s best.

–Mark Geil