Fallstar | Reconciler. Refiner. Igniter. Track By Track
Written By: Chris Ratzlaff

A track by track analysis of Fallstar’s Reconciler. Refiner. Igniter. by vocalist Chris Ratzlaff.

The record is titled Reconciler. Refiner. Igniter. which summarizes the process of coming to life in Christ. I have to admit I didn’t set out writing with a specific theme in mind, but noticed it after we finished. The whole writing process was so rad. Honestly I would just write something from my heart, and at times my pen would just go for a couple lines, I would read it over and it would fit perfectly. Bryan wrote some stuff on the album and he describes the same sort of thing. I’m not saying we wrote scripture or anything weird like that, but it just goes to show that when we’re in tune with Christ He will collaborate with us to make something beautiful. Another thing about this album is we tried to write in greens, blues, purples, and a dash of red. We see music in colors, meaning, what color we see in our head while the song is playing. It really helps describe the mood we feel in the music.

“Hunters”

This song is based off Matthew 11:12 and a sermon by Charles Spurgeon that Chad Johnson posted on the Come&Live! blog. It’s about seeking God violently by setting aside what you think is best, and trusting in Christ. This life we choose is a scraping, violent fight and I wanted to illustrate the type of drive and purpose we embrace everyday. I walked into the practice space one day and everyone had written the music already. I knew it was the color blue at first listen and Bryan’s baseline in the bridge just plunged me under water.

“Black Clouds”

We recorded this song as a demo in 2008 that we never released, and we were still stoked on it so we put it on the record. Justin and I wrote the music, and Justin wrote lyrics for the intro as well. We saw this song as a rescue/savior type song, especially the bridge where it depicts Jesus carrying the cross out of the city. In my head it’s the toughest, almost superhero type action I can think of. He knew what he had to do and was resolved to do it, even though it would kill him.

“Reconciler. Refiner. Igniter.”

Out of any other song, I can say each member wrote exactly one fifth of the final product. We knew the jam had potential to be a highlight of the record but something was missing. Before we even went in to record I think I rewrote the chorus three times, and it was kicking our butt even in recording. Finally Jason and I were able to hash out something solid and we love the haunting green feel the music has. This song has so much meaning for us.

“Horse Without A Rider”

I was so pissed at the prominent philosophy that God brings us “prosperity” in the form of material riches. I’ve lived in Africa and traveled only to see that God does make his people rich. But he does it by joy, love, and community. Even Christ, our example of how to live, didn’t have money or even a place to sleep, so why should we think God’s main goal is for us to have money and be comfortable? His desire is for us to be satisfied in him. The music for this song perfectly fits the frustration, and desperation of the lyrics. It’s simple, raw, and bright red.

“Saratoga Springs”

I love Native American culture and last year I traveled down to Death Valley to study the Saratoga Springs culture. I wrote as someone from that culture experiencing God, and I often wonder if that group of people knew the God I know. This is my absolute favorite song on the record and I’m so stoked to play it on tour, it brings out the dance!

“Lurchers”

A lurcher is a dog crossbreed trained to kill. It has been banned in some areas and after researching the animal I fell in love with it because I feel like I can relate to it. I had all this lyrical brutality of a fight built up, and this theme fit perfectly for the direction of the song. This was another song we as a band had to fight through, we were still changing parts in the middle of tracking, this song took the longest to record by far.

“Drunkaholics Anonymous”

Walking with God sometimes looks weird to people, and they can’t understand why we do what we do. I compare it to trying to understand a drunk man.(check out Matthew 11:16-19) Recording this was super rad because we had our good friend Katie come in and tell a story about being “drunk on God”. We didn’t tell her exactly how long to speak, we just turned her loose and the first take was perfect. It was so powerful that there was not a dry eye in the room, we looked at each other like “what the heck just happened?”

“Face the Floor”

Dude all I write about is God; he just gets me so stoked, that’s what this song is about. Justin and I wrote this song in one sitting in our freezing cold practice spot late at night. It was miserable, but we were way too into it to leave. A friend of mine told me the sound reminded him of Dragonforce… I think he’s wrong.

“Contortionist”

I wrote this song before we released Your Eyes Don’t Lie. It has four breakdowns in it, but keeps a hectic, almost punk feel to it. The lyrics are about a breakup I had a long time ago. I’m really not mad about that anymore though, so I don’t really feel what I felt when I wrote it. It’s the only song on this album that I won’t revisit in the future as far as lyrical content. This is one of our favorites live and our stage gets pretty crowded at the end of the song. Also, we tagged an acoustic song to the ending to sum it all up.

“Windows”

This could easily be the weirdest/coolest thing we’ve ever done. Bryan wrote a poem that tears through the whole ending of the song and was a perfect way to end the record. This song brings up lots of doubts, questions, and thoughts that we’ve gone through, and are still processing. Musically and structurally it is so simple, but the weight of the song is massive for some reason. These elements are characteristic of a green song.

Visit www.myspace.com/fallstar to check out a few of these tracks and be sure to grab the new record Reconciler. Refiner. Igniter. by Fallstar at comeandlive.com starting March 29th.