Tips for Cowriting and Recording “Lamb of God” w/ Matt Redman

Matt Redman joined Matt McCoy to talk about worship leading, songwriting and his new album Lamb of God.

Recording Lamb of God

McCoy: “Can you tell us about your new album? Was it completely live?”

Redman: “We decided we wanted to do a live album again. I just like how the songs breathe and if they’re going to end up being congregational, it helps define what they are and what they can sound like. So I had these new songs and had my eyes on this place called The Mission in southern California. Part of it is in ruins, part of it is still standing and the Chapel there is the oldest standing working building in California. The Mission itself is the birthplace of what we now call Orange County. We went in for a day, recorded in a couple of different spots and it was a beautiful place to worship.

The centrality of the cross really became a big theme, almost to the point where I was fighting it. I thought honestly is this too much? But a pastor told me years ago that we’re going to sing about the cross every week we’re together, so having new songs will be helpful. It turned into a thread running through the record.”

Worship through the years & Cowriting

McCoy: “How would you say worship music has changed from when you released some of your early albums or “10,000 Reasons” compared to where it is now?”

Redman: “Around the time of 10,000 Reasons the door opened up to be able to write more ‘hymn-y’ worship songs. Songs like “King of Kings” or “Living Hope”, there’s more permission to have more verses and be more like hymns now. I’m learning too that cowriting is a huge blessing. People ask me ‘do you get writer’s block?’ and I say no, which sounds arrogant, but the reason is because of other people. Getting in a room with other people and even when you’ve got nothing to throw in to the pot that day, they’ve got something and it stirs you up and there’s momentum.”

McCoy: “When you’re cowriting do you normally do it only in person?”

Redman: “My favorite is in person. But I do write with people over a distance and that can be written over a longer period, I’m currently writing a song with a guy in Nigeria and so we aren’t going to be writing in person. There can be pressure when you’re writing together in person that you need to finish the song completely in the time. I was reading recently the CityAlight guys said ‘Don’t hurry. Don’t rush. The song doesn’t have to be finished in two hours.’ Keep revisiting it, keep reshaping it. We’re definitely not going for quantity here. We’re going for quality.”

Watch the full interview with Matt Redman below to hear more tips on songwriting and worship leading! You can get the chord charts for his album Lamb of God on SongSelect and download all of the Master Tracks on LoopCommunity.com.