A pair of Catholic priests and a consecrated woman from the Regnum Christi, an international Catholic movement open to all the laity, have formed a new band to produce professional grade Catholic music. Drawing their name from the movement, Regnum Christi Music Collective just released their first song, “Over and Over,” complete with a beautifully shot music video.
As they explain on their website, Regnum Christi Music Collective is dedicated to writing and producing evangelizing music that expresses the spirituality that characterizes the Regnum Christi movement: “encountering Christ in a deep and personal way so as to be formed and sent out as apostles to evangelize society.” The band was formed in late 2019 by lead singer Fr. John Klein, who recruited his fellow priest and Legionary of Christ, Fr. Jaime Lorenzo, to the project.
Father Klein also brought in Miss Emily Roman, a consecrated woman of Regnum Christi, for her backup vocals, and the trio made the trip out to Nashville, where they recorded six songs with Shawn Williams, a professional Catholic music producer who previously worked with the Vigil Project. They note on the band’s website that the songs were already written by Fr. Klein and had been well received when he performed them at various youth events.
Their first release, “Over and Over,” has a catchy hook that will play on in your head again and again. This recording has a gentle feel, but with a few additional instruments we can imagine that it would grow well into a great Catholic anthem that would feel right at home in an arena concert.
Fr. Klein’s voice impressed us with a clear tenor that becomes very rich in his lower register and blends really well with Roman’s light accompanying harmonies. The many layers come together in the end to create a fantastic choir of voices to sing the refrain with slight variations at each repetition, which we could almost hear a crowd singing along with, be it at church or at a live show.
Regnum Christi Music Collective wrote of their work:
All this is in God’s hands. And it does seem like we’ll be able to do projects like these on a more regular basis in the future. The opportunities, as they say, are endless. Our hope is that many other Catholic musicians and singers, whether from the Regnum Christi movement or not, join this collective and begin to collaborate together to create beautiful music that inspires and evangelizes.
Keep up with all of Regnum Christi Music Collective’s releases on Facebook or at their website.
