JourneyOnline
A sense of discomfort stirred the hearts of UK based Christian band, Delirious? following their tours of some of the poorest countries on earth. It inspired the band to respond in the best way they knew how – writing from the heart and producing one of their strongest albums, Kingdom of Comfort.
The band has just released the highly acclaimed Kingdom of Comfort album while on their April 08 Australian tour with concerts in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and the Gold Coast.
Kingdom of Comfort evokes questions about social justice issues from five star western world living and dreams to the slums and poverty of third world countries and life’s injustices of cancer.
Delirious? frontman Martin Smith said that he doesn’t think that the band has ever made a record so focused on its theme and lyrical content.
“I specifically remember playing in India and coming back with all the tension about how we were going to respond to these things that we had seen and experienced.”
“Steve set up his guitar amps in the studio and there was just this sound of confusion, anger, hopefulness and hopelessness coming from them,” Martin explained. “It was like we needed to capture this sound and put it into songs and somehow get the electricity on tape – that’s what Kingdom of Comfort is.”
For Thatcher one of his most life changing moments in India was when they visited the red light district of Mumbai. The band encountered the work of the project ‘Prem Kiran’ who take children of women who work in the sex trade off the streets and put them into an escape house in the night time where they feed, clothe and educate them.
“When I went into this place and saw the children it was very confronting,” he said. “Once you looked into the eyes of a child where that lifestyle is normality for them, you think ‘this is wrong!’.”
When presented with the question of how westernised Christians should respond to that sense of hopelessness, Thatcher is adamant that it is the job of Christians to bring hope to people who live in poverty and despair.
“I believe if we can’t bring hope to those situations then who can?”
Where does the band, Delirious? go from this point after producing their strongest and complete package?
Thatcher has his own thoughts as he honestly shares, “We need to take heed of our words and I think we need to pioneer again.”
“I think we need to step out of our kingdom of comfort where the future for Delirious? is scary and exciting.”
