Gray Havens Music Review

I don't want to geek out on you. That wouldn't be cool, and when it comes to music, impartial advice is always a welcome change from the die-on-this-hill culture of the music world.

I have to say though--when I was directed to the Gray Havens and began to listen to their music, I felt like I was a green art critic who had stumbled across Van Gogh's Sunflowers, a brand-new reader trying out The Chronicles of Narnia, a movie novice watching Star Wars: A New Hope for the first time, or a musical ignoramus who had discovered the Beatles. In short, I wondered where they had been all my life, and I felt that my life was going to get a whole lot better for inviting them in.

Enough of waxing poetic, though. Who are the Gray Havens? And what is their music about?

Blue Flowers and Folk

Meet the Gray Havens: a Christian band who describe their musical genre as "folk/narrative/pop." Composed of husband-wife duo Dave and Licia Radford, and joined by a host of talented musicians needed to achieve their unique, multi-layered sound, the Gray Havens owe a lot of their inspiration to J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and John Piper. They don't just copy from the authors however, but bring a sound as unique as the stories they are inspired from.

Popular hits from The Gray Havens include narrative-ballad Train Station, pop-vibes It's Possible, and the award-winning Sirens. Some songs focus on theological truths, such as Band of Gold, Take This Slowly, and This My Soul while others tell an allegorical story like Gray Flowers. Sometimes, whole albums are focused around a theme or metaphor. The Fire and Stone album explores the struggle of spiritual vibrancy (fire) against cold apathy (stone), She Waits is a beautiful ode to the promised hope of Heaven, and Blue Flower was devoted entirely to C.S. Lewis's moving autobiography Surprised by Joy (with added overtones of summer versus winter).

Beginning with strong folk roots and producing an album nearly every year since 2013, the Gray Havens seem to be growing in popularity. Their albums are distributed through Band Camp, YouTube, Spotify, and other platforms, and they are embarking on a tour in 2022 for their newest album Blue Flower. For those that aren't fans of folk, their most recent music has been trending toward pop, and for those that love anything C.S. Lewis or narrative tunes, there is a lot to celebrate here. What I think is their greatest achievement, however, is their ability to weave truth in a way that is refreshing, captivating, and unexpected.

Made for Another World

This blog, Unvisited Lands, was started when I was in quarantine in 2021. I had just been introduced to the Gray Havens a few days before, and I was encouraged and awakened by their joy in God. This blog was born as a way to funnel and enflame the influx of joy I felt for Jesus. Lingering behind the Gray Haven's excellent sound-quality, strong vocals, and interesting lyrics is the heartbeat that has compelled many believers to create art: a joy in God. Following the thinking of John Piper, and echoing generations of saints and the Bible itself, the Gray Havens are focused on chasing after the joy that only God can give us. It's a satisfaction that we can't compare to any other pleasure, love, happiness, or adventure.

It's easy to lose sight of the happiness we have in God. This Biblical view of our Father is the opposite of the destructive image our culture has of God, an image that is corralled by starch-collared, straight-jacketed, cold formalism that seeps like crumble-causing mildew into our relationship with God. C.S. Lewis is famous for wanting to change that destructive image. The novel-writing theologian famously wrote:

“Why did one find it so hard to feel as one was told one ought to feel about God or the sufferings of Christ? . . . The whole subject was associated with lowered voices; almost as if it were something medical. But supposing that by casting all these things into an imaginary world, stripping them of their stained-glass and Sunday School associations, one could make them for the first time appear in their real potency? Could one not thus steal past those watchful dragons? I thought one could.” --C.S. Lewis

The heartbeat of the Gray Havens is the same. They aim to "steal past those watchful dragons" of cold hearts and locked-up love, and show their listeners the unimagined, out-of-this world beauty that is God Himself. In doing so, they are addressing what author Dane Ortland describes as possibly one of the most destructive pitfalls to our happiness. He writes that our joy might not be in danger of "the sin in which you regularly indulge but the dark thoughts of God's heart that cause you to go there in the first place and keep you cool toward him in the wake of it" (Ortland, 151-151).

Imaginative, joy-seeking music wants to flip that tendency on its head. The Gray Havens songs wage war against dragon-y dark thoughts, bringing instead innovative, imaginative lyrics that celebrate joy in Christ. And while that is a lot of credit to give to one band, what is even greater is the worth of the God they are celebrating.

Something More

Musically speaking, the Gray Havens might not be for everyone. Not everyone enjoys folk; not everyone likes pop; not everyone finds encouragement in the wit of Lewis. And they aren't perfect either. All artists mess up and say things wrong and disappoint at some point.

But Dave and Licia are worth a blog post, however, because of their profound impact on weary, cold travelers trusting in God to lead them closer to His heart. Maybe by enjoying some of their beautiful tunes, you'll grow closer to His perfect love. I know that I have, and that I will continue listening to them for a very long time.

In their most recent album, Dave and Licia use the term "blue flower" from Lewis's autobiography to symbolize joy. Even if you don't listen to the band's songs, hopefully, in a very real way, you'll find yourself singing along.

I saw you blue flower And who's to say Where you come from Feels like far away

I felt you blue flower In my soul You got me longin' For somethin' more.

Image credit: Twitter.com