Aaron Shust Approaches His First Christmas Album "Unto Us" With Originality

On October 14, 2014, Dove Award-winning artist Aaron Shust will release his first Christmas project, Unto Us.  While most Christmas albums find the artists going back to record the standard Christmas carols, Shust has decided to eschew such a traditional route.  Instead he has single-handedly written all the 10 songs on this Christmas offering.  Produced by David Hamilton (Grammy Awards, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant), each song contains a cinematic quality highlighted by ancient yet modern sounds. In order to create the orchestral backdrop for Unto Us,

In fact, Shust traveled to the Czech Republic last February to record the Prague Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra sight-read music on eight of the new songs, leading to a spectacular sound for the record. Shust has wanted to record a Christmas project for a long time and he knew the sound he wanted and how to achieve it.

"I've had my entire life to write this Christmas record," Shust explains. "Every year in November and December, I would sit down in front of the piano, open up a hymnal and read some words that might inspire. I wanted every second of every track to feel like Christmas and to give people something familiar, yet also to gift them with something else, a new experience. We're not just celebrating 'He was born and He was God.' We're celebrating the fact that God is coming on a rescue mission and that's exciting!"

These ten songs, therefore, have a very intentional order which intend to provide a sense of story. 

Tracks 1-5 represent The Proclamation as we see the star of wonder appear and the hear angels proclaiming the Good News to the shepherds: a Savior has been born in the city of David! 

Tracks 6-8 represent The Adoration where we find ourselves manger side, or at least peering into the stable along with the shepherds as Mary sings a quiet lullaby. 

Finally, tracks 9-10 represent The Celebration, the shepherds running through the streets of Bethlehem, in neighboring villages, over the hills and everywhere, spreading this incredible news, "Rejoice! Give heed to what we say: Jesus Christ is born today!"

Here is the Track Listing: 

01. Star of Wonder (Overture)     

02. Gloria     

03. Unto Us     

04. Advent Carol    

05. God Has Come to Earth     

06. Sanctuary     

07. Keep Silent     

08. Bethlehem    

09. Rejoice     

10. Go Tell It

Shust will launch the Morning Rises Fall Tour next month with dates running through mid-October. The tour features Mikeschair, labelmate Lauren Daigle and Nathan Tasker, and is sponsored by Compassion International. For more information about Shust and his holiday project please visit online at www.aaronshust.com, www.facebook.com/aaronshust and www.twitter.com/@aaronshust. 

 

 

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