Rend Collective is certainly a band with energy, and not just the "jump around on stage" kind of energy (though they surely have that in spades.) They also possess a kind of wild, creative energy that pours out more songs than they can release in the traditional album release schedule. For many years now, they have put out "stray songs" periodically that eschewed the album release cycle and seem to have been written purely for the joy of it. And they do live in a time when releasing new music can happen almost instantly. Back in the day (as in pre-Internet), the act of releasing a song involved a physical production process that took time, materials, and effort. Singles came on player piano song rolls, vinyl records, cassette tapes and then the almighty CD single that you placed on your bookshelf alongside that artist's other music.

But, no more! Rend Collective (that zany Irish band), and similarly creative and energetic types, can now record a song in a short timeframe and release it to the world when they feel like it. In the past few years, they released the rambunctious "Come Out Fighting" (a song that has a "must see" music video), the traditional Irish party song "Tell Me Ma (Belfast City)", the odd, old-timey Christmas tune "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas," and even dueted with Tenth Avenue North on their new album with the rousing "Take Heart." (Oh, and they just released an album a few months ago that is one of their best.)

And now comes along "Wild Love," a great reflection on C.S. Lewis' Aslan character in The Chronicles Of Narnia. And the motivation here seems to be that they just recently re-read the first book in that series and wanted to pay tribute to Lewis (who lead singer Chris Llewellen refers to as a "fellow Belfast man.")

"Wild Love" is as rollicking and unhinged a song as the title suggests (though eons less than the wild love of the Father for his children.) "You break our algorithm / Defy our definition / More than our minds can fathom / Can't tame you, can't tame you / No cage for Judah's Lion / You send the darkness running / No end to your dominion / Can't tame you, can't tame your / Wild, wild, wild, wild love / Can't tame you, can't tame your / Wild, wild, wild, wild love / Can't tame you, can't tame you / You're good, but You're not safe / Unleashed and unrestrained / Wild, wild, wild, wild love." With Rend Collective's folk instruments strummed at a typical break-neck pace and some electric guitar shredding subtly at the end, "Wild Love" is one to turn up loud and dance to.

"Wild Love" is a great surprise of a summer release (with wonderful artwork that brings to mind the original Narnia images of the classic children's illustrator Pauline Baynes) that feels like a passion project through and through, and pays wonderful tribute to both C.S. Lewis and the loving God that he fell in love with so many years ago.