ikon dubh was released at greenbelt 2005 – £12 – available from proost

we (proost) absolutely loved the soundtrack to ikon's worship last year at greenbelt and struck up a friendship that has grown over the year. and we are proud/excited/delighted that it has developed into this CD being released.

a moving mix of soundscapes, poetry, beats and song combine to make this unique collection of twelve tracks from the belfast based ikon alternative worship services. the tracks have been composed by stray (jonny mcewen and paul hutchinson) and padraig twomey. the album opens with the hum of a crowd gathering at an ikon service that mixes into a beautiful instrumental track. towards the end pete rollins voice is spun into the mix with what could be an ikon credal statement 'i never question god, i only question my understanding of god'. 'gift' is the first of padraig's two tracks. it is beautiful, aching and mystical poetry. his voice is stunning. 'my low' is the most up beat track on the album – (maybe an ironic reference to mylo?) – and the first of several with paul's poetry and crafting of words which flow from praise ('ps 33') to the struggle of life in belfast ('belfast beats me up'). 'manifesto' has a really dirty bass and the ikon manifesto (apocalyptic, emerging, iconic, heretical and failing) delightfully spoken by charlie (jonny's son). there are more philosophical samples from rollins spun into the 'map for the perplexed'. padraig's second 'yearn' is worth the price of the CD alone – it is the most amazing song and delivery – the sort that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. 'love theme' was originally penned with a film soundtrack in mind and is a beautiful instrumental. the album ends with a track inspired by the mystic meister eckhart – as soon as we have a construction of god that may limit our understanding we need to lose it to see the god who is beyond 'god' hence the prayer 'god rid me of god' – i remember first hearing this at my first ikon service at greenbelt 04 and it stayed with me for a long time…

the CD is available from proost for £12. if you are in ireland/northern ireland contact ikon who have CDs. we are a very small label – selling through catalogue, web site and places like greenbelt. so if you have avenues to spread the word about ikon DUBH via web sites, review copies for magazines etc let me know. i'm also looking for any enthusiasts who might be interested in taking a box to sell particularly if you are in another country…

we have also just printed a new proost catalogue which includes the ikon DUBH along with the new come home and worshipping the creator kits and other proost releases. let me know if you'd like a catalogue or if you have means of passing them on to others…

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