Give Us Rest; or, A Requiem Mass in C (the Happiest of All Keys) is the sixth and final studio album and their eleventh overall album release from the David Crowder Band. This album was released on January 10, 2012 through sixstepsrecords. The album charted at the following during the week of January 28, 2012: No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart, No. 2 on both the Billboard 200 and Digital Albums charts. The first single to come from the album is "Let Me Feel You Shine".
Musical style
Give Us Rest follows the former sextet's applauded Church Music, in which every track was infused with more electronic textures than used before. Critically, it was met with various descriptors for the songs' sounds, including techno, progressive rock, experimental, and even disco-rock, which was attributed to the 13th track "Church Music - Dance (!)".
However, Jesus Freak Hideout's Michael Weaver hailed Give Us Rest as "the most diverse thing DC*B has released in one collection." A sentence earlier, he dubbed it "a masterpiece", a statement which various Christian music reviewers echoed radiantly.
He noted it for consisting of "everything from the standard DC*B modern alt-worship you're accustomed to, as well as classical sounding pieces, shredding guitars, folk, bluegrass, a hint of Southern gospel, and a couple nicely covered hymns."
Country and Southern-tinged tracks appear here that were scarce in the electronica of Church Music. Paul S. Ganney of Cross Rhythms found "I Am A Seed" "country-rock tinged." Michael Weaver noted "Jesus, Lead Me to Your Healing Waters" as having "a Southern rock feel" and "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" "a bluegrass feel."
Though reacting to these genre attempts with positive assessments, the inclusion of spoken word Weaver reacted to negatively.
Composition
Give Us Rest ranks as the lengthiest David Crowder*Band studio album at nearly 101 minutes, overtaking Church Music's 74 minutes. Physically consisting of 2 compact discs, AllMusic's James Christopher Monger would name it the sextet's "swan song."
While Church Music and one of its predecessors A Collision or (3+4=7) contained two cover songs, Give Us Rest contains four covers.
Disc one
Six tracks on disc one were written solely by David Crowder:
Track #1: "Requiem Aeternam Dona Eis, Domine" Track #2: "Lux Aeternam Shine" Track #5: "God Have Mercy (Kyrie Eleison)" Track #7: "Fall On Your Knees" Track #10: "Reprise #1" Track #19: "Sequence 6" The other 13 (excluding one cover) were written with bandmates and collaborator Matt Maher.
The second track "Oh Great God, Give Us Rest" is Disc 1's first and final track to contain writing contributions from Canadian CWM musician Matt Maher.
The sixth track "Why Me?" is the record's first cover. Written by actor and country singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson, it originally appeared as the last track on his 1972 record Jesus Was a Capricorn.
After the 13th track, an interlude simply tilted "Interlude" written by bass guitarist and keyboardist Mike Dodson, is a series of "Sequences" commence, containing seven instrumental tracks.
Reception
Critical
The album Give Us Rest has received nearly universal acclaim.
CCM Magazine, The Christian Manifesto, and Jesus Freak Hideout's Ryan Barbee all gave the album 5 out of 5 stars. Matt Conner of CCM Magazine commented on how the album "starts with footsteps of those walking to church and closes with the familiar hymn 'Because He Lives'", noting that "in between are emotional and musical shifts that rise and fall at all the right times." The Christian Manifesto's Lydia Akinola called the album "a triumphant finish!" She went on to say that the album "is a masterpiece, one that totally eclipses what many thought was possible." Ryan Barbee of Jesus Freak Hideout heaped praise on the album, saying "there is no doubt that they have created something grander and more elaborate than all of their previous releases", and that each track "back[s] up this statement" and that the album "is nothing short of an amazing experience."