Child of God includes 20 songs with several features from Hulvey, Sam Rivera, Tori Kelly, Connor Price, Caleb Gordon, CAIN, JVKE and Jonathan Pokluda, the lead pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco, Texas.

Frank has previously released seven albums with his band Surfaces, including their latest album Good Morning which dropped earlier this year. Frank has been creating Christian music on his own, releasing several EPs since 2022 and collaborating with artists like Lecrae, nobigdyl. and Elevation Rhythm.

 

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“I don’t know what’s going on in your life right now,” Smith says at the beginning while standing in a ring of fire, “but whatever’s going on in your life, you can make it.”

Smith starts the song by rapping about struggling with hopelessness in the middle of pain and suffering, feeling “broken and tired, and all your hope is expired.”

But then Moore hops in, with Sunday Service Choir’s harmonies backing him up, to deliver a powerful and hope-filled message.

“Don’t give up on me, I need you to hold on/ Know you’re deep up in the storm/ But I know you can face it/ It can get dark on the road and you’re feeling all along/ Don’t lost sight of where you’re going/ ‘Cause I know you can make it, oh woah,” Moore sang before a storm came and rained down on Smith.

And before the performance wraps up, Kirk Franklin walks on stage to deliver a moving message about persevering through tough times with God’s grace.

Watch the full performance here:

Within the last three years, the renowned worship leader has left her home country of Australia, joined a new church, become a mother and embarked on a solo career. Suffice to say, things look a lot different for her these days.

But regardless of what season she’s found herself in, she’s discovered that one thing remains constant: God. TAYA opened up to RELEVANT about how she’s rooted her trust in God during the changing seasons of life, and how she’s also found joy through the ups and downs and twist and turns.

This conversations has been edited for length and clarity.

Your song Gonna Be Good is so full of joy. Where did the inspiration for this song come from?

My husband, actually. He felt like he got that message from the Holy Spirit before we were moving to America. So that was maybe about three and a half years ago. He felt in the season that we were about to step into, which was just trusting in God and an overseas move and just stuff that we just hadn’t conceived would happen, but was going to happen. There were a lot of unknowns and things that could cause worry if we chose to go down that route. He felt this word from God that we’re meant to trust and be joyful, which is a really funny combination because you would think when you trust in God, you’re trusting in His character, you’re trusting in who He is. He’s omnipresent, He’s omniscient, He knows everything. Nothing is a surprise to Him, nothing shakes Him. He is true, infallible, eternal God — which should be enough for us.

But again, we’re humans and we have doubts. We allow things to creep in. But then so many times we can trust God, and still have these little attitudes of like, I trust you, but this sucks. And my husband really felt we were meant to trust and be joyful, which means that you truly do let go of the worry and you let go of the fear of the unknown.

And so I took some time out early last year, and I really wanted to hear a word from God because I can’t do it without him. I needed direction, so I waited. Eventually He spoke to me through birds through this scripture in Matthew 6 that says to cease from your worry about money. And I had to ask God, am I worrying about provision? Because we’re living in America, and there was a whole bunch of unforeseen things that were yet to unfold when it came to now no longer working at a church and what that looked like and the unpacking of that and finding a new church community and all of this.

So it felt like He was speaking into that season before we even knew that was going be unfolding. My husband at the time wasn’t working, so we were on one income and then unbeknownst to me, I was pregnant at that time. It just turned out to be wild timing and the wild kindness of God.

I felt like God was speaking into all of it for me. And He was saying, “Get your eyes off yourself, look up at the birds.” And in Matthew 6, it talks about how they are careless in the care of God, about how they are just obeying the instincts that God has placed within them. They don’t gather for food, and they don’t freak out. They don’t have a place to rest their heads. But God provides for them. And how much more does our Heavenly Father know what we need? And so I was having that revelation in January of last year as I was starting to write new music.

That reminds me of the line in “Oceans” where you sing “Spirit, Lead me where my trust is without borders.” Is trust something that you’re always wrestling with? 

Yeah I suppose so. I feel like trust is something that I’ll always have as a theme — not just in music, but in life. Like you said, “Oceans” is all about trust. It’s a kind of trust where it says a prayer of asking God to use me in such a way that I will walk out into the craziest deep water, where I have nothing else to lean on, nothing to fall back on, no borders.

I’ve found in every single season, it’s a reminder that trust is a layered thing. It’s not like you say you trust God in one season and then that’s it. It’s like, no, I get to, in this new season, trust Him in a whole new way, in a deeper way, and with things that are perhaps even more precious and that I care about even more.

And yet, I’m not meant to trust any less. I’m actually meant to continue to trust more and grow in my trust. In this season, it’s trust and joy, which has been a challenge and something that hasn’t come easily.

And again, I just want to be very honest. There have totally been days and times where I’m full-on crying, going, “Lord, what have I said yes to?” Or like, “Are you sure I’m the right person?” It’s like imposter syndrome.

Learning where to bring that — not just sitting in it, feeling it, yes, but knowing who to take it to — I take it to God first, and then I’m able to unpack that with my husband and dear, more mature friends that God has placed in our life. It’s something that I don’t think I’ll ever get away from, and I don’t want to either, because I think anytime I think I’ve got this, I’m going to fall on my face.

How are you learning to trust God as you step into this solo career?

I don’t love to be pegged into a particular box, which is hilarious when you’re called an artist because people want to know how to package this. Before recording a song with United, someone told me something that felt like God’s kindness in preparing me not to compare myself to others and to be content with who God wants me to be. It reminded me not to look left or right in comparison or envy but to be content with what God is doing.

I often go back to this advice: just because ministry, leading, or songwriting looks a certain way for someone else, doesn’t mean it has to be that way for you. Don’t put God in a box. Allow Him to do whatever He wants, and be open to that.

I’ve struggled with this a bit, especially being part of United for the last 10 years with its particular sound. It’s an honor to have music that resonates with people and connects them to Jesus. But what’s crazy is I didn’t write those songs. Now, writing my own songs, they will sound different. This first record allowed me to bring everything to the table—my voice, writing style, and my expression of who Jesus is. I love funky soul chords, prefer the black notes on the piano, and write in A flat.

In the last year, stewarding this record and opportunities from God, I’ve realized I need songs for the church because I’m asked to lead worship. Writing these songs has been harder to figure out and do well. My hat goes off to everyone who writes songs for the church. I’ve led them but am just starting to write them. It’s a learning experience.

Hopefully, the second half of this record, which I’m still working on, will include those expressions. It’s another step of faith, trusting God, and learning to be joyful in starting out again. Representing these songs live has been fun. We’ve translated them, played them differently, adjusted speeds, and made them more congregational. I love how malleable the songs are and how they’ve connected with people in worship settings and churches.

I’m excited for what’s to come. I know there will be a live worship record one day, but it doesn’t feel right for now. I hope people will come along on the journey as I follow what I feel God is saying for this season and the ones to come.

1. Free at Last: dcTalk

Sure, “Jesus Freak” and “In the Light” are the hits, but you’re a Church kid, and you know the deep cuts. “Free at Last” was a track from dcTalk’s days as a Beastie Boys-aping rap outfit, when Michael Tait and Kevin Max mostly seemed to just be sitting around waiting for TobyMac to let them do something.

Of course, re-purposing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous, astonishing treatise on black liberation for a purely spiritual hip-hop song may not be the most racially sensitive move this group ever made, but you probably weren’t thinking about that then. You were focusing on nailing the whole “if you’re ser – i – ous – ly cur- i – ous a-bout my past” part of Toby’s verse.

2. Staci Orrico: Don’t Look at Me

Staci Orrico showed up in 2000 with a sound that approximated the current mainstream pop-trend of Latin-tinged pop music better than a lot of CCM, which was still trying to milk that ska cow.

The great production put the attention squarely on her pipes, which were impressive, and for a solid year, “Don’t Look at Me” was an inescapable hit on Christian pop radio and in youth groups across the nation. The fact that it was all so eminently singable didn’t hurt.

3. Five Iron Frenzy: One Girl Army

Speaking of that ska cow, no band milked it better than Five Iron Frenzy, who were just about the best band of the short-lived ska revolution, Christian or otherwise. They brought an awesome cheekiness to the generally self-serious world of CCM, with songs like “Oh Canada” and the infamous pants medley. But they also delved into surprisingly deep waters too—no other Christian band before or since has referenced William Blake poetry in their lyrics.

They ended every show with “Every New Day” but “One Girl Army” was the one you knew best, and you bellowed that chorus until your throat bled.

4. Relient K: Sadie Hawkins Dance

Speaking of cheeky, no Christian band was as self-referentially goofy as Matt Thiessen and the Relient K guys. They got their start just as the pop punk wave was starting to crest, but had a lot of success anyway on the strength of some above average adolescent hijinks. There was nothing revolutionary about their three chords and a chorus approach, but can you name any other bands with songs about Marilyn Manson cannibalizing girlfriends?

Speaking of, Relient K was one of the few bands to get away with Christian songs about dating that didn’t include an obligatory reference to saving sex for marriage. “Sadie Hawkins Dance” is purely a John Hughes-esque tale of a nerdy guy scoring a date to a dance, with an insidiously singable “Oh-oh-oh!” chorus.

5. Newsboys: Breakfast

It’s a shame the Newsboys of today are mostly known for God’s Not Dead, the last quarter of which is basically just a Newsboys concert film. Believe it or not, there was a time when the Newsboys were making some interesting music. “I just believe it, and sometimes I don’t know why / Gotta go with my gut again on this one” they sang on “Believe,” which is about as close to real expressions of doubt as CCM got in the ’90s.

But they made their rent off of weirder fare, and Christian music didn’t get weirder than “Breakfast” which is about … uhm, well, what is it about? The main theme seems to be that there’s no breakfast in hell, which barely counts as a theme, but the chorus is such a genuine, honest-to-goodness, fist-pumping anthem that you hardly cared then. And you don’t now, do you?

6. Kirk Franklin: Revolution

Kirk Franklin’s had a good career. He started out as a true visionary of CCM, an artist who refused to compromise one inch on his creativity, his identity or his beliefs. He was an early signifier of what gospel music could be, and he brought the genre into the future with an addictive conviction.

The past few years have been good to Kirk, as he’s scored some high profile gigs with Kanye and Chance. But to Church kids of the ’90s, “Revolution” was the first and best intro to his real talents. WHOOP WHOOP!

7. Audio Adrenaline: Big House

“Come. And go with me. To. My Father’s House.” Only Audio Adrenaline had the courage to take what sure sounds like a Sunday School rhyme and put it to crunchy pop rock, which made it fairly appealing to 14-year-olds at church camp too.

“Big House” inspired children’s choirs across the nation, with its earworm of a chorus that seemed designed specifically for hand motions. It’s so easy to sing along to that you could be forgiven for not questioning the orthodoxy (how sure are we that there will be a big, big yard for playing football in heaven?).

8. Switchfoot: Dare You to Move

Plenty of Switchfoot songs could work here, as the band evolved from a low-fi surf rock outfit to a grander, more produced, Bono-flavored affair. “We Were Meant to Live” got lots of radio play, and the tracks on Learning to Breathe were more tuneful, but “Dare You to Move” captured the band at their most earnest, and if you haven’t been to a Switchfoot concert and with both hands shot towards the clouds screaming “DARE YOU TO MOOOOOVE” than you did not have a happy childhood.

9. Jars of Clay: Flood

If you watched Pete Holmes’ Crashing on HBO, you’ve probably realized how much you have in common with the protagonist, Pete. Pete is absolutely a church kid, who gets ridiculed for his music taste, which includes this absolute jam. More than a lot of Christian music of the era, Jars of Clay sounded very much like their own thing — a little Replacements, a little R.E.M. and, well, a lot of originality with some poetry in the lyrics. Jars are good is what we’re trying to say. Admittedly, the “Flood? chorus is more or less one note, but it’s a good note and if you’re too cool to sing along with it, you’re too cool for us.

“It feels like a cool opportunity to get back into something I really enjoy, but from a different place,” Perry told RELEVANT. “I’m a different person than I was the last time I made music. Now, as a 34-year-old woman with four children, married for 10 years, with more theology, more life experience, and more suffering, I think the music will benefit from the life stage I’m in.”

This isn’t the first time Perry’s released music. She released her debut album The Art of Joy in 2014 on Humblebeast and released her second album, Crescendo, in 2018. She stepped away from music to focus on writing books and speaking, but she’s eager to step back into the music scene.

“I always enjoyed music; I missed it,” she said. “It was probably last year that I started to lament that I wasn’t able to make music. It was never a financial thing for me. It was just that I like music and I like to create it. But it was just a thing that I let go.”

Perry also shared that she’s also eager to explore a new sound, something fans haven’t heard from her yet.

“My intention will be to create a sound that is more native to me,” she explained. “My previous albums were more hip-hop-oriented and lyrical. I’m still going to be lyrical, but I think there’s a vibe and a southern countryness to my sound that I hadn’t explored before.”

She continued, “That’s kind of what I’m on: how do I make music that sounds good, feels good and produces good works? That will be the goal.”

Listen to her new single, “First Draft,” here:

Ahead of their latest album release, Move of God, we sat down with SEU Worship leader Chelsea Plank to hear more about her work with college students and how she’s witnessed God’s presence on campus and in young adults’ lives.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

What is your favorite part about working with college students?

One of the most cutting-edge aspects of our ministry is the constant presence of young adult voices. We always get a taste of the next generation, even as we get older. I love that our ministry consistently hears their concerns, their passions and where they want to invest their labor and love. This unique aspect keeps us in touch with what young people are feeling and needing.

In our ministry, we prioritize writing for our community, hoping that our work will ignite passion everywhere. We ask, “What do our students need? What are they sensing from their friends and peers?” When writing with students, we often have an 18-year-old and a 25-year-old in the room. This dynamic is one of my favorite parts of student ministry.

I love our students and enjoy developing and discipling them. It is refreshing for us and our community to always have a young adult perspective.

What’s something you’ve noticed is on the hearts or minds of college students these days?

We have noticed that with songs like “Monday Morning Faith” or “Slower I Go,” which are on the album, college students are very open to new ways of talking about the Lord. This gives us the opportunity to experiment with bringing fresh perspectives to familiar church teachings. They are craving these new insights.

A common misconception is that they don’t want the truth or that they only want superficial messages. In reality, college students are deeply drawn to the truth. They can easily identify insincerity and find it unrelatable. The pursuit of truth, expressed through new revelations and language, but grounded in solid theology, is something college students seek far more than we often acknowledge.

Young people are craving this truth more than we realize.

What is something these college students have taught you in return?

That’s a great question. I love it. I grew up in this ministry, meaning I came to college here and then joined their team and became staff in the past couple of years. But one of the coolest things about college students, and now we’re seeing another generation coming into our college campuses and ministries, which is incredible. It’s like another wave.

I’m at the tail end of college students. I’m clinging onto it. But then we have some younger students, and I love one thing about college students and the younger generation is their heart for justice. They have a huge justice-oriented heart, and they know more than we might think about how to pursue that with love. So something I’ve learned is just fighting the good fight, even though they’re younger and might not have the same life experience as someone who could offer wisdom on the matter. They’re ready and eager to fight for justice for people, to see truth prevail in various areas.

I’m always inspired by that with this generation. It inspires me to stand for truth, to fight for justice. Justice is a Godly concept, so envisioning it on Earth is vital. I love the hearts of college students and younger generations. It’s becoming more prevalent and I find it really cool.

How does that relationship with college students impact SEU Worship’s music?

I think it gives us perspective on sound for college students, for a younger generation. It gives us a pulse on that sound because it’s what we’re listening to, but also what our student body is listening to. So when we engage in these writing sessions, we’re gaining all these different soundscapes and references for fresh ways of worshiping the Lord and bringing that into songwriting, and ministering to our campus through the songs we’re writing, ministering to whoever’s listening.

It’s awesome to have a youth group to do that with because, firstly, you’re gaining perspective on what the next generation needs, the generation that’s going to be leading us and leading the church. What are they thinking? What are they feeling? What are they needing? What’s the language we can use for that? And also, the sound of it.

At SEU Worship, we love the worship aspect that feels new and fresh, and experimenting with new sounds and new ways of expressing worship to the Lord is something we love to do. So that young audience is crucial for that kind of ministry and sound.

You’re new album, Move of God, is dropping. Where did the inspiration for this music come from? 

So the album is called Move of God, but the track “Move of God” was actually the last song that we wrote for the album. And it just encompassed everything we were singing about in all of the songs.

So much of the songs that we were writing were coming out of a place on our campus where we had seen such a powerful, massive move of God and such a powerful revival where — not that this always has to indicate God moving, He can move in so many different ways — but we were seeing altar calls at the end of our Monday night chapels going until 1 a.m. We were seeing people praying over others on our campus. We were seeing people with radical faith who set an expectation and an atmosphere that the Lord can do anything.

When we have that expectation, He really does do it. Our leadership was focused on positioning ourselves to holiness because it says that the pure in heart see God. We know that purity is more than a destination but a pursuit. It is a real pursuit and we just wanted to see God.

So many of these songs, whether they’re songs of repentance or songs of exaltation to the Lord, ultimately express the move of God that we feel happening across our nation and the globe. In times of darkness, it’s good to be reminded that there is a move of God taking place. If we have the faith to believe it, if we’re hungry, if we’re desperate for it, God is going to show those things to us.

God has a heart for the church. We know that God is aligning all of that through this album and through what He’s doing in the world right now.

Medical examiner Dr. Feng Li confirmed to The Tennessean that the 47-year-old singer died from complications of class III obesity. Class III obesity is a disease in which a person “has a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher or a BMI of 35 or higher and is experiencing obesity-related health conditions.” Her death was listed as natural, Li said.

Additionally, the report shared that the American Idol alum was found dead in her home by friends after no one had heard from her in “approximately three weeks.”

On April 19, a rep for Mandisa announced she had died from unknown causes and police were investigating the situation.

“We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased,” they wrote. “At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details. We ask for your prayers for her family and close-knit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time.”

Mandisa was a Grammy-Award-winning gospel artist who got her start as a contestant on season 5 of American Idol. Following her death, American Idol paid tribute to the singer, with  Idol alums Colton Dixon, Melinda Doolittle and Danny Gokey performing “Mary Mary’s “Shackles (Praise You),” which was the first song Mandisa sang when she competed on the series in 2006.

The Church of the Holy Spirit, a historic church located in Heimlichm, Germany, recently hosted a worship service that focused on Taylor Swift’s music. According to Deutsche Welle, an estimated 1,200 people — mostly young women (duh) — crammed into the historic church on Sunday, May 10, for the service, titled “Anti-Hero,” a reference to one of Swift’s songs.

“The Church of the Holy Spirit has always been a place of encounter and exchange,” Pastor Christof Ellsiepen told the outlet. “That’s why a pop-music religious service fits so perfectly. With it, we are giving space to the questions and issues that occupy the younger generation.”

According to parish pastor Vincenzo Petracca, the service focused on the strong Christian themes in Swift’s music that address topics such as women’s rights, racism and gender equality.

“Theologically speaking, she points to the justness of God,” Petracca said. “For her, faith and action are inseparable.”

Petracca acknowledged that Swift has taken flak from some Christian leaders for her recent album, especially in the United States. But he made it clear that the sermon highlighted that Swift’s “faith knows doubt and inner conflict.”

During the service, the congregation sang along to live performances of six Swift songs, led by Tine Weichmann, a singer from Hamburg and professor of popular church music in Heidelberg.

Petracca recalled to DW that one of the most emotionally stirring moments occurred when Weichmann and her band performed “Soon You’ll Get Better,” a song Swift wrote for her mother, who had been diagnosed with cancer. In the song, Swift sings of the healing powers of medicine and prayer: “Holy orange bottles, each night I pray to you / Desperate people find faith, so now I pray to Jesus, too.”

During the performance, Petracca was moved by what he saw from the congregation.

“I stared into beaming faces — and during the song that Taylor wrote for her cancer-stricken mother, many had tears in their eyes,” he said.

The church said they plan to continue the “City Church Rock ‘n’ Pop” series with Billie Eilish and Beyoncé-themed services later this year.

“I think part of [the early publicity] has to do with the way we were raised, the whole good versus evil thing,” Nathan Followill laughs. “We went from being in church every night to being in clubs and bars. I also think the fact that we are all related and where we came from was part of it, too. Luckily for us, the story kept the attention long enough for them to give our music a chance.”

It wasn’t an easy childhood. The brothers were on the road 325 to 330 days each year. There was no place they could call home, and very few friends outside of their family.

“That was my entire childhood,” Followill says. “Except for three and a half to four years where we actually stayed at one church and my dad became a pastor instead of an evangelist. That was our home church and he was the main preacher and that was for about four years. Other than that, we’ve been on the road our entire lives. The main difference is that our tour bus then was a 1987 Olds 98 with no shocks in it. We had hydraulics before hydraulics were cool. But you’re not really setting your roots anywhere when you do that. We’d go to a church and stay for a week and you’d make friends with those kids, but you didn’t want to be too good of friends because you knew that you were leaving in a couple of days and wouldn’t see them again for a year or year and a half.”

Eventually, Leon Followill burned out. He began drinking heavily, resigned from his position and left Betty Ann. It was then that Nathan and Caleb began to pursue music.

Many have wondered how brothers with such a strict upbringing—and such a lack of pop culture influence—could be making the music they are today. “We didn’t even own three CDs,” Followill laughs. “I think my mom had this guy named Leon Patillo and I can remember Russ Taff. Oh, then there’s Shirley Caesar.”

That such a heralded rock band could be so unfamiliar with the legends who’ve gone before them is maybe the most unbelievable part of their story. Their first album, Youth & Young Manhood, seemed such an obvious play off Southern rock acts like the Allman Brothers that it seemed Kings of Leon were playing coy at best, or flat out lying at worst.

“As far as music goes, we couldn’t listen to anything at all,” Followill says. “We couldn’t listen to rock and roll. My dad listened to sports radio a lot and sometimes in trying to find the right station, he would come across a Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin song. He would never tell us the name of the song or who it was, but he would tell us, ‘Back when I was 17, I would sit back and smoke pot and listen to this stuff.’ So we didn’t listen to anything except for gospel music.”

Followill admits that when they first started the band, they were sponges—soaking in everything they heard. He says he’s still discovering bands that are amazing, and then he’ll find out they’ve been around for 25 years and he’s never heard of them before.

“I think it’s amazing that we were a band that started just to make music and not to be the next Led Zeppelin or the next U2 or whatever band,” Followill says. “We aren’t one of those bands that we had someone we tried to pattern or model ourselves after. We’re so illiterate as far as music and musical history goes, so that’s helped us a lot to discover music in our own way and the music that comes out of us is truly our music. Early on, we got compared a lot to Lynyrd Skynyrd or Allman Brothers or other like bands, and we couldn’t name any of their songs.”

So how do four boys go from church kids to the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle—writing songs about being too drunk for sex, transvestites on cocaine … and, of course, fiery sex? Is there any of that old-fashioned upbringing left?

“My mom is religious and I have four aunts that are all married to preachers, so that’s always going to be a part of our lives,” Followill says. “You can’t really get away from that. But I think we realize now looking back on it that the way we were raised definitely shaped us into the guys that we are. There are definitely things from that time of life that I want to keep, especially being a good person and being thankful for everything that you have. Essentially we do want to be good people, but on the other hand we realize that a lot of that was very fear-based to get you to do something as opposed to giving you logical reasons why you should or should not do something.”

In many ways, it’s a familiar story: preacher-kids gone wild, rebelling against a strict upbringing, lashing out at a father who left them and had his own fall from grace. Yet Kings of Leon haven’t thrown the baby out with the proverbial bathwater. As Followill explains, they’re still involved with charitable causes and their daily life consists of prayer and the occasional jaunt to church—at least for mom’s sake.

“We still give money to churches that are in need. We’re still pretty active as far as being charitable. Every now and then, like on Easter Sunday, we will go to church. That’s what [Mom] wanted for her birthday was for us to go to Easter Sunday with her. So we did that and ended up signing more autographs there than we do at a concert, which is kind of funny. We’re definitely thankful people and I say my prayers every night before I go to bed and thank God for the life we’ve been given.”

According to Nathan, the Followills wouldn’t change a thing. Their background, however strange, has led them to this point.

“I don’t think there was any resentment, but I think we did miss out on a lot of good stuff growing up that was so unnecessary,” he concludes. “That’s what sets us off the most. We missed out on so much stuff with our friends because of the religion card. But that’s it. If you ask any of us if we would change the way that we were raised, we would all say no. There would be no Kings of Leon without our upbringing, and it made us all so close because we had to be close. We were always in the backseat of a car together, so that helps us in the sense that we’re a band of brothers who can be in each other’s face 260 or 270 days out of the year on the road. And then when we get home, we still want to hang out with each other. That’s the biggest perk of the way we were raised.”

This article originally appeared in Issue 39 of RELEVANT. Kings of Leon’s latest album, Can We Please Have Fun, is out today.

The 10th annual Tiny Desk Contest drew in over 7,000 applications this year from independent artists around the world. From there, NPR’s panel of judges — comprised of industry experts and Tiny Desk producers and alums — selected 45 finalists. To celebrate 10 years of Tiny Desk Contest, NPR added a new element: a Fan Favorite vote where listeners could decide for their favorite entry. With more than 10,000 votes submitted, nobigdyl.’s performance of “Go With the Ghost” took home the honor.

“The last five years have been very intense,” Moore said. “This journey has had its ups and downs took. I some time away to focus on being a better father and husband.

“If I were to call it an evolution of what people know me as, I feel like I would be cheapening what God is really done in me,” he continued. “I believe the music I’m working on now is really honest and it’s going to free a lot of people.”

Moore, who co-founded Maverick City back in 2019, also teased that he may be leaving the worship collective. This isn’t an unexpected move from Moore, considering last year he spoke about creating different music that fans don’t expect from him. Instead of traditional worship songs, he said, he wanted to create songs that explore faith from a different perspective.

“I think it’s cool that we believe in a Bible, life manual, that covers everything from relationships and sex to spirituality and prophecy,” Moore said in April 2023. “It shows us that though life is multi-dimensional, it should still be centered around Christ.

“On a mission to produce & create more music from that perspective,” he continued. “Music that the world can sing along to, and while they’re singing it, God uses it to sneak into the heart of the listener to do what He wants. Music that I can sing about my love for my wife, the same love that glorifies God. I want music about life and love that has a perspective that is safe for my kids who love God to listen to.”

After that, Moore continued to work with Maverick City, releasing new music in the summer and briefly touring with the band in the fall. For the last six months, however, Moore has remained offline and out of the spotlight.

So what’s next for Moore? Moore concludes his video cryptically, saying, “The question of if I am leaving Maverick City is a real question.” 

Maverick City has not commented on Moore’s membership status. However, they did drop three new singles and music videos where Moore is noticably not present.

 

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That’s a pretty discounted ticket, especially since 2023 reports show that a single concert ticket costs an estimated $125 with fees.

The limited-time ticket offer runs from May 8-14 and includes tickets to over 900 performers this year. Artists include Kings of Leon, Maggie Rogers, Cage the Elephant, Two Door Cinema Club, NEEDTOBREATHE, Vampire Weekend, The National and the War on Drugs.

That said, come on, people. We are all literally starving out here. And while the first half of 2024 has been a great year for new music, with terrific offerings from the likes of MGMT, Real Estate, Bleachers, Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift, Beyonce and so on, we’re still hungry. And the only thing that can satiate our mighty need is some long, long, long-awaited new music from a few artists who are overdue for a new album.

Neon Trees

Neon Trees burst onto the scene with infectious energy and catchy hooks with hits like “Animal” and “Everybody Talks.” However, since the release of their last album, I Can Feel You Forgetting Me, in 2020, fans have been left craving more. The band has been busy touring over the last few years, and they’ve announced a single is on its way later this summer, but no word of an accompanying album yet. Hopefully, this will end the years-long hiatus.

Sky Ferreira

Sky Ferreira’s Night Time, My Time released in 2013, promptly set the world on fire and has more or less left it there, with Ferreira getting involved in a vast array of other projects (collabing with Charli XCX, acting in Baby Driver) and constantly teasing a follow-up. The new album even has a name, Masochism. A single dropped in 2019 and the full thing is rumored to land sometime “soon”, but we’ll believe it when we see it. And we’ll be grateful too.

The xx

Few bands have cast a longer shadow over the last decade of pop music than The xx, even if they never reached quite the same household name recognition as many of the acts indebted to their influence. Rihanna, Drake and Lorde have all cited them as inspiration, and they’ve written for pop stars like Halsey and Dua Lipa. But where are The xx now?

Working hard, according to them, and prepping some new music. There’s no whisper of a release date or anything, but word is it’ll be a bit more colorful than the sparse, monochromatic sounds that put them on the map. Can’t wait.

Frank Ocean

Nobody on this list does things on their own time or in their own way like Frank. channel ORANGE changed the game in 2012 in a way few albums have, drawing a bright line in the sand that makes it easy to tell now whether the pop song you’re listening to came before or after Frank Ocean made his presence known. He followed it up with Blonde in 2016, which had nearly as big of an impact — but slower, more like a creeping vine than a firecracker. He’s been releasing regular singles ever since and they’ve all been good, but we’re ready for another collection.

Hillsong UNITED

The powerhouse worship collective has taken a step back from releasing new music over the last few years, allowing members like TAYA and Joel Houston to pursue solo projects. While we are enjoying these side projects, we wouldn’t be mad if the group got back together for another album. The group released a new album, Are We There Yet?, back in 2022, and have rereleased deluxe/live versions of records. But fans are ready for new music. Houston has hinted that new music is “on the way,” but with no definitive timeline, we’ll just have to wait and see.

The dance-musical, directed by Justin Peck and based on Sufjan Stevens’ iconic Illinois album, is up for Best Musical, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations and Best Lighting Design. However, despite heavily featuring his music, Illinoise‘s nominations don’t extend to Stevens himself. So if you were hoping for him to finally get a start on his EGOT status, you’ll have to keep waiting.

The adaptation features music and lyrics by Stevens, with the story crafted by Peck, who choreographed Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. According to the show’s description, Illinoise follows a “coming-of-age story through the American heartland,” which is exactly what we expect from a Sufjan-inspired musical. The production features new arrangements of the entire album, as well as “impressionistic choreography” and “narratives centering on self-exploration and community.”

Illinoise is currently playing at the St. James Theatre in New York City until August 10.

 

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If you’re looking for an actually good festival to attend this year, you’re better off checking out one of these:

Bonnaroo

Since its inception in 2002, Bonnaroo has been synonymous with adventure, community and discovery. Located amidst the rolling hills of Manchester, Tennessee, the festival offers a four-day immersive experience that transcends traditional notions of live music events. Featuring artists like Maggie Rogers, Post Malone, Cage the Elephant, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Khruangbin and more, this festival is well worth the price of admission.

Day In Day Out

Out on the West Coast, Day In Day Out Festival offers a more intimate alternative to its larger counterparts. Curated by local indie favorites Death Cab for Cutie, the festival provides a platform for both established and emerging artists to showcase their talents against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest. This year’s lineup features headliners The Head and the Heart, Bleachers and Carly Rae Jepsen, as well as Suki Waterhouse, Hippo Campus, Peach Pit and more artists commonly featured on the Heard on the RELEVANT Podcast.

Lollapalooza

Since its inception in 1991, Lollapalooza has evolved from a traveling showcase of alternative music into a cultural institution. Held annually in Chicago’s Grant Park, the festival’s expansive lineup spans genres and generations, reflecting the ever-changing landscape of contemporary music. From established headliners to emerging artists, Lollapalooza continues to draw crowds eager to experience its dynamic atmosphere and eclectic programming. This year is no exception. There’s a little bit of something from every genre here, making it the perfect festival to hear your old faves and discover new ones.

Hinterland

For those seeking respite from the hustle and bustle of city life, Hinterland Festival offers a serene escape amidst the idyllic landscapes of Saint Charles, Iowa. Against a backdrop of rolling hills and open skies, festival-goers can immerse themselves in a carefully curated lineup of Americana folk, and indie rock. With plenty of camping options available, Hinterland Festival allows you to reconnect with nature while jamming out to artists like Hozier, Noah Kahan and Vampire Weekend.

All Things Go Music Festival

All Things Go Festival is one of the most highly anticipated festivals of the year. Featuring a diverse lineup of musical acts spanning genres and backgrounds, the festival offers a wide opportunity to hear some of the best-rising artists in the industry. From Laufey to to Remi Wolf, Briston Maroney to Del Water Gap, there’s something for everyone.

David Pierce, the chief media officer of Christian radio network K-Love, also commented on Mandisa on social media.

 

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Born Mandisa Lynn Hundley, the singer auditioned for American Idol in 2005, becoming a fan favorite among other contestants like Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Chris Daughtry and eventual winner Taylor Hicks. She advanced to the top nine contestants before being eliminated. During her run, she sang hits like “I’m Every Woman,” “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing,” “Any Man of Mine,” “Shackles (Praise You)” and more.

For artists who happened to be Christians — not necessarily “Christian artists” — questions about faith and a sense of authenticity were more evident than traditional CCM artists who were heard in church-music circles.

Here’s a look back at 10 Christian indie rock albums from the early ‘00s that still hold up.

(Like a lot of “Christian music” genres, some of the bands have disputed the label of being “Christian” bands. But, for the sake of our rankings, we’ve chosen artists who have put out music on Christian labels, played at Christian festivals and who have at some point been generally associated with “Christian” music).

Catch For Us the Foxes – mewithoutYou

mewithoutyou’s spoken-word vocals and unflinching post-punk instrumentation creates an album that was truly unique when Catch for Us the Foxes released in 2004. Like the music itself, the lyrics are often complex, nuanced and moving.

Brother Is to Son – Brother Danielson

Sufjan Stevens collaborator and Danielson Famile member Daniel Smith has always been one of the most gloriously unique voices in indie folk. Not only is his falsetto voice immediately recognizable, he’s also known for taking the stage dressed as a giant tree. His 2004 solo album — under the Brother Danielson moniker — Brother Is to Son is full of cool arrangements, eclectic production and spiritually-inspired lyrics.

Emotion Is Dead – The Juliana Theory

The album’s title is the first signal that on 2000’s Emotion Is Dead, The Juliana Theory had abandoned their late-’90s emo sensibilities from Understand This Is a Dream. The Emotion Is Dead is a collection of indie pop singles, big anthems and experimental songs that were so ambitious that they landed the band a deal with Epic Records in 2001.

Where Shall You Take Me? – Damien Jurado

Damien Jurado isn’t exactly a traditional “Christian artist.” A prolific musician—he’s released dozens of albums, EPs and singles over his 20-year career — he’s garnered acclaim from mainstream critics and indie music publications and has had his music featured on a number of primetime shows, from One Tree Hill to The Blacklist. But even with his narrative style, Jurado’s Christian faith is never far away from the themes of his music.

You Are So Good to Me – Waterdeep

Sure, this may not technically be an “indie rock” album, but You Are So Good to Me embodied indie sensibilities. When Waterdeep and frequent collaborators 100 Portraits started releasing music in the late ‘90s, they were doing something unheard of the in worship music genre: They were making unpolished, raw acoustic songs that sounded more like jam sessions than highly-produced radio songs. 2001’s You Are Good to Me ages so well because of its commitment to folky authenticity over trendy style.

You Should Be Living – Twothirtyeight

Twothirtyeight remains one of the era’s more underrated acts, but all three of their albums (released between 2002 and 2003), are still solid listens. Former frontman Chris Staples has gone on to work with a ton of notable artists (including Father John Misty), and continues to have an impressive solo career. His 2014 release American Soft was one of the year’s best singer-songwriter albums.

Throws Like a Girl – Vroom

One of the more obscure bands on the list, Vroom never really broke out, but 2000’s Throws Like a Girl was a smart, emotional indie-pop effort that never got the attention it deserved.

The Moon Is Down – Further Seems Forever

Chris Carrabba recorded one album with Further Seems Forever before leaving to pursue Dashboard Confessional, but The Moon Is Down remains a classic. It lacks some of the sentimentality of Carrabba’s later work, and instead replaces it with technical arrangements and unrelenting punk rock aggression.

The Beautiful Letdown – Switchfoot

Though it was a major-label release, The Beautiful Letdown was the ultimate indie-artist-hits-the-big-time story: With crossover hits like “Meant to Live,” “Dare You to Move,” “This Is Your Life and “Gone,” Switchfoot’s 2003’s album was a massive critical and commercial hit, selling more than 2 million albums. The record became a top-40 staple, and brought Switchfoot’s soulful California brand of indie-pop to the mainstream.

The Only Reason I Feel Secure (EP) – Pedro the Lion

David Bazan, former Pedro the Lion frontman-turned-solo artist, continues to write some of music’s most thoughtful songs about faith, doubt and God, even though he no longer considers himself a Christian. Like the cover of “Be Thou My Vision,” his EP The Only Reason I Feel Secure (which was released in 1999), is a stirring, vulnerable look at spirituality in conflict.

On his 51st birthday, Williams released Black Yacht Rock Vol 1: City of Limitless Access. But here’s what’s surprising: His name doesn’t appear on the album; he didn’t mention its release; there’s no marketing and it’s not available on any streaming platforms. Fans can only listen to it on BlackYachtRock.com.

Adding to the mystery, fans are unsure if Black Yacht Rock is the album name or maybe a group name. The album cover has the word “Virginia” on it with no further information.

Both Tyler, the Creator and Pusha T shared the album on their social media channels, but only to praise the project, not because they were necessarily part of it.

It’s the latest example of ever-evolving music rollout strategies. Over the last several years, many artists have walked away from the traditional album release approach — releasing one to two singles to promote an upcoming full-length release — to something totally different. More and more artists are now releasing singles only with no plans for an album.

Trying the exact opposite approach, Billie Eilish just announced she won’t be releasing any singles before her next album drops.

And in a totally different lane, there’s Williams, releasing a full album with no singles, no artist name and no promotion.

The music industry is clearly trying to figure out the best way to break new music in our algorithm-driven world. And by the looks of it, no one’s yet found the right answer.

Santa Cruz is the third album from Pedro the Lion since the band reunited back in 2017. Prior to that, the indie rock group  — who hold the No. 2 spot on RELEVANT’s Definitive Ranking of Early 2000s Christian Indie Rock Bands — grew a dedicated fan base from 1995 to 2004 by mixing refreshingly honest lyrics with poignant religious themes.

This album also continues the five-album arc that began with 2019’s Phoenix and 2022’s Havasu. Frontman Dave Bazan said that each album is named after a different place he’s lived, and the stories are based on various points in his life. This upcoming project takes place during his teenage years, from the time he turned 13 to the year the first Pedro the Lion EP dropped. “Modesto” was written about a six-month stay in Modesto, California, where he wrote the first Pedro the Lion songs before deciding to move to Seattle and pursue music.

“Of all the tunes on these records, I can’t think of another tune where I was really expressing my own agency,” Bazan said. “It was the first time where I really had a choice of what I wanted to do. It became really clear in those six months when I lived in Modesto that I didn’t want to work any other job—I wanted to try and make music. This song definitely feels like the launch pad for what became the life that I chose.”

Santa Cruz will drop June 7. Listen to “Modesto” here:

Some PKs go on to become pastors themselves. Some hightail it out of the Church as fast as possible. And some of them go on to be extremely famous entertainers. Here are a few stars that you probably didn’t know came from ministry families:

1. John Boyega

The Star Wars star is fairly private when it comes to his family, but he has shared that his father was a Pentecostal minister who has had a major impact on his faith and career. “The skill and ability that I’ve received has been from your prayers, and I cannot ignore what God has used my parents to do in my life,” Boyega wrote in an Instagram post about his parents.

2. Hunter Schafer

In a new interview with GQ, the Euphoria actress reveals that both her parents are church leaders in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her father, Mac, is the lead pastor at Hudson Memorial Presbyterian Church, and her mother, Katy, is the director of children & family ministries at First Presbyterian Church.

3. Marcus Mumford

Before Marcus Mumford teamed up with his Sons, he grew up as a PK to John and Eleanor Mumford, who were international leaders of the Vineyard Church. In 1987, the couple established the first British Vineyard church in South West London and led the church until 2015. In a 2022 interview, Mumford shared that watching his parents lead a church shaped the way he led Mumford & Sons.

“I was watching my folks at the center of attention and, I think, dealing with that really well,” he said. “But it did provide some element of training for what I chose to do.”

4. Katy Perry

You may know that Katy Perry got her start in a church choir, but she’s not the only one who started their fame journey from the pulpit. Perry’s parents, Keith and Mary Hudson, served as traveling preachers and speakers for a few years while their daughter was gaining notoriety.

5. Adam Driver

The Star Wars actor was raised by his mother and stepfather, who was a Baptist pastor in Indiana. Driver grew up in the church, and even credits his time in the church choir as his first step into the entertainment world.

6. Kelis

The “Milkshake” singer grew up with a Pentecostal minister for a father, but he was also a musician and professor who helped Kelis develop her career.

7. Phil Jackson

Regarded as one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, Phil Jackson was known off the court for his New Age philosophy. That’s a stark contrast to his upbringing, where he was raised by two Assemblies of God preachers who assumed he’d one day become a minister.

8. The Jonas Brothers

Nick, Joe and Kevin grew up as PKs in New Jersey. Their father, Kevin Sr., began his ministry as a singer with Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas before becoming the senior pastor of a church in Wyckoff, New Jersey.

Honorable mention: Frankie Jonas, the “bonus Jonas” and co-host of reality competition series Claim to Fame.

But the Jonases aren’t the only PK siblings who grew up to be musicians…

9. Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon’s Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill grew up with a father who was a United Pentecostal Church preacher. The boys first developed their love of music by playing in church bands before their dad spoke from the pulpit.

10. Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington’s father served as a Pentecostal pastor in New York. Washington attended church for the first 14 years of his life before his parents’ divorce and he lost touch with his dad.

Produced alongside Ian Fitchuk, who also worked with Kacey Musgraves on her new album Deeper Well, this breezy indie folk track packs a punch with its upbeat vibe and introspective lyrics. In a post on Instagram, Rogers shared that the song captures her hope and optimism for life, clarifying that she’s actually “not sick of dreaming.”

“The truth is, I’m not sick of dreaming, and I hope I never will be,” Rogers writes. “To me, dreaming means existing in a world where the impossible is possible and where hope seeps into frame from the finger of the everyday. I’m an optimist, always have been, but the older I get, the more I’ve tried to spot the difference between optimism and naivety. It’s a powerful thing to believe in the best in people. I’m learning there’s also something essential to picking up what someone is putting down and holding them accountable for that. Maybe there’s a middle ground between constantly dreaming and just really loving the life you’re living in. Seeing the truth that’s right there in front of you, rather than dreaming or waiting for another reality to constantly appear.

“You can hear me come to a bit of that conclusion in the song,” she continues. “You think you’re so cool because everybody knows you, but what’s so good about that? There are a lot of ways to get to know someone. Sometimes it’s physical or through friends. Sometimes it’s solely through the gaze of the internet, or through an email. Real vulnerability takes bravery. That, to me, is something worth dreaming about.”

 

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Rogers will drop Don’t Forget Me on April 12 before heading out on tour in May.

Listen to “So Sick of Dreaming” now:

The adaptation will feature music and lyrics by Stevens, with the story crafted by Peck and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury. According to the show’s description, Illinoise follows a “coming-of-age story through the American heartland,” which is exactly what we expect from a Sufjan-inspired musical. The production features new arrangements of the entire album, as well as “impressionistic choreography” and “narratives centering on self-exploration and community.”

Illinois is among Stevens’ most popular work, holding the No. 1 spot on RELEVANT’s ranking of Stevens’ albums. The album features his best-known song, “Chicago,” which was featured in the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine and, 16 years later, used as the opening theme for Netflix’s The Politician.

The show opens April 24 at the St. James Theatre in New York City, with shows running through August 10. Tickets are now on sale.

When Ye released those projects, he talked about the intentional shift they represented in his professional and personal life. In a 2019 interview with Zane Lowe, Ye shared that he believed it was his mission to share about all the things Jesus had done for him.

“Now that I’m in service to Christ, my job is to spread the gospel, to let people know what Jesus has done for me,” he said. “I’ve spread a lot of things. There was a time I was letting you know what high fashion had done for me, I was letting you know what the Hennessey had done for me, but now I’m letting you know what Jesus has done for me, and in that I’m no longer a slave, I’m a son now, a son of God. I’m free.”

Ye even called himself an evangelist for Christ in his Jesus Is King documentary

“We’re here to spread the Gospel,” he said. “I’m not here for your entertainment. I’m an evangelist. So my music, my films—every conversation, every room I’m in—we’re here to save souls, save people from eternal damnation.”

Which is why fans — especially Christians — were surprised by the extreme 180 represented on Vultures. Has Ye turned his back on his faith?

In a new interview with Big Boy, Ye addressed what he now thinks about God.

“I have my issues with Jesus,” he admits. “There’s a lot of stuff I went through that I prayed and I didn’t see Jesus show up. I had to put my experience in this world, my experience with my children, my experience with other people, my experience with my accountant, my experience with my brand and my experience with the level of music that I was dealing with in my own hands.”

Ye then explained that he sees Christians rely “so much” on God that it sets them up for failure.

“A lot of times, I just feel like, in America, Christians depend on Jesus so much that we won’t put the work in ourselves,” he said. “The main thing that really that I don’t rock with is it’s always saying, ‘I’m going to pray for you,’ and it’s just like, you can actually physically do something yourself, too. More than just pray.

“We’re so in this mentality that that’s all that needs to happen but we ain’t praying our way out of prison,” he continued. “We ain’t praying our way out of the abortion clinics. We ain’t praying our way to get our land back that was always ours after gentrification, after the Harlem Renaissance. Black Wall Street was burned to the ground. Them prayers ain’t working. We have to apply actual physical building partnerships and it doesn’t start unless we could really be real with each other and say, ‘This is what I did.'”

Later in the interview, as Ye was explaining why he doesn’t like to be controlled by labels and other producers, he also shared that he doesn’t understand the point of fearing God.

“It’s another thing I don’t like in Christianity — the fear of God,” he said. “If God is love, why should you fear Him? Because you place one fear and you get another fear, you get another fear, then what do you have? At that point, you’re easily controllable. You’re easily sellable. You’re easily contracted because you have this fear on you. Everybody is going to die eventually. But I’m going to live my entire life with zero fear.”

You can watch the full interview with Big Boy here:

At the time of this writing, 105 bands and individual musicians — a majority who are Europeans — and five music labels have announced they will not perform at the festival this week.

The singer kicked things off with a special performance of “Sanctified” by bringing Tobe Nwigwe out on stage. The two debuted their song on SNL back in January.

Timberlake moved on to a few more of his hit singles before then reuniting with his fellow former boyband members, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Lance Bass, to perform some of *NSYNC’s biggest hits and their new song “Paradise.”

Yes, you read that right — there’s a brand new *NSYNC song in 2024. And while you may or may not be hyped about it, there’s no way you’re more excited than Nwigwe.

The Houston-based rapper shared a few clips from the show on Instagram, and even performed the choreography to “Bye Bye Bye” from the side stage.

“They was my first white friends growing up,” Nwigwe wrote.

Check out Ngwige’s behind-the-scenes excitement here:

 

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1. Bleachers – Bleachers (March 8)

Jack Antonoff’s project Bleachers returns with their self-titled album, promising a sonic journey that blends infectious pop hooks with introspective lyrics. Having spent the last few years co-producing for a pop star or two, we’re glad to see Antonoff back in his own studio recreating that distinctively unique Bleachers sound. Last month, Bleachers dropped the music video for “Tiny Moves,” featuring Antonoff’s newlywed Margaret Qualley dancing along to the beat, and let’s just say she wasn’t the only one.

2. Justin Timberlake – Everything I Thought It Was (March 15)

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SANCTIFIED by @Justin Timberlake ft. me 1st performance on @Saturday Night Live – SNL A monuMINTal moMINT thank you @justintimberlake & @nbcsnl for this immaculate moMINT in time #top5SNLperformances FULL VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

♬ original sound – tobenwigwe

This one isn’t just for boyband fanatics. Justin Timberlake is making a long-awaited return with Everything I Thought It Was, an album that he says will showcase his evolution as an artist. We’re sure it will have his signature blend of R&B, pop and soul. But what we’re truly most excited about is a studio version of his electric collaboration with hip-hop artist Tobe Nwigwe. When the duo premiered their song on SNL back in February, we had no idea what to expect. Here’s hoping there’s more than one exciting collaboration between Nwigwe and Timberlake in the future.

3. Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well (March 15)

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves announced her highly anticipated album Deeper Well during this year’s Grammy Award ceremony — not in a Taylor Swift style, of course. But her upcoming album will surely be full of her trademark wit and vulnerability while she explores themes of love, longing and the human experience. And while plenty of other artists are dipping their toe into the country genre this month (*cough Beyoncé cough*), Musgraves is out to prove she’s in a league of her own.

4. Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood (March 30)

Indie darling Waxahatchee returns with Tigers Blood, an album that will be full of Katie Crutchfiel’s signature raw honesty and evocative storytelling. Waxahatchee has been on the rise for the last several years, performing at shows and festivals around the country. She’s nearly perfected the blend of folk and country, so if you aren’t a fan of her yet, there’s a good chance that one listen to Tigers Blood will change that.

5. VOUS Worship – Always a Good Time (March 30)

If you’ve been looking for new music to add to your worship playlist, VOUS Worship has you covered. Always a Good Time gets right to the heart of worship with songs that uplift, inspire and remind us why we worship in the first place. The first singles from the upcoming album are full of insightful and praiseworthy lyrics that are exactly what we need to hear this month.

Tribbett gave a passionate talk about how he feels like “the institution of the Church is whack.” He went on to explain that he is frustrated by how the Church has gotten things backward.

“The Church should be about the people, but the Church makes the people about the Church,” Tribbett said. “They’re not serving and loving the people.”

Tribbett’s comments have been receiving both praise and backlash online. What do you think?

 

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Check out Tribbett’s full conversation on The Breakfast Club on YouTube:

Neon Pill is shaping up to be the band’s most vulnerable album to date. The band recorded the project after a series of traumatic, life-altering events involving the deaths of several loved ones, including members Matthew and Brad Shult’s father, as well as Matthew’s mental health breakdown.

“To me, Neon Pill is the first record where we were consistently uninfluenced, and I mean that in a positive way,” Matthew said in a statement. “Everything is undoubtedly expressed through having settled into finding our own voice. We’ve always drawn inspiration from artists we love, and at times we’ve even emulated some of them to a certain degree. With this album, having gone through so much, life had almost forced us into becoming more and more comfortable with ourselves. We weren’t reaching for much outside of the pure experience of self-expression, and simultaneously not necessarily settling either. We just found a uniqueness in simply existing.”

Neon Pill will drop May 17. Shortly after that, the band will head out on an extensive North American tour beginning in June with supporting act Young the Giant. (Milennial dads are freaking out right now.)

Ahead of the album’s release, the band has dropped two new singles, “Neon Pill” and “Out Loud.”

The “Deeper Well” tour begins in Europe this spring with opening act Madi Diaz. Then later in the fall, Musgraves will kick off her North American arena tour beginning in Pennsylvania joined by supporting acts Father John Misty, Lord Huron and Nickel Creek.

To celebrate the tour announcement, Musgraves also dropped “Too Good to be True,” the second single from Deeper Well.

Last year, The National dropped twin albums First Two Pages of Frankenstein and Laugh Track. The War on Drugs released their latest album I Don’t Live Here Anymore in 2021.

 

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The Americana artist said the song came from the fear he has as the father of a young daughter and his worry about keeping her safe.

“When I’m writing about something that heavy, I find the best way to do it, for me, is to go from my own personal perspective,” Isbell said. “I don’t have any experience in a mass shooting situation, so I’m not going to write a song about that. But what I will write about is being at the grocery store and hearing a balloon pop, and the first thing that comes into my mind is, ‘Oh my God, is somebody in here with a gun?’ And I know it is extremely frustrating for a whole lot of people in this country to deal with.

“I think it’s something that is a capitalist issue at heart,” he continued. “I think all those companies that sprung up after the Brady Bill was repealed are really kind of pulling the strings right now and selling people something that they don’t need, so they can feel proud of something that they really shouldn’t be proud of.”

The Brady Bill was enacted in 1994 and mandated federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States. It expired in 2004 and has yet to be reenacted. While federal purchases of guns require background checks, today approximately 1 in every 5 gun sales occurs without a background check, due in large part to the rise of gun shows and websites that facilitate private sales online.

This isn’t the first time Isbell has advocated for gun reform. In 2023, Isbell partnered with dozens of Nashville musicians for Together in Action, a benefit concert aimed at raising awareness about gun violence in Tennessee.

Check out his full interview with Lydic below:

The album was recorded with producer Kid Harpoon, who’s known for collaborating with the likes of pop artists Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus. It’s an interesting choice, and “Mustang” shows the iconic rock band indeed might be taking things in a new direction. The song’s chorus still has the trademark Kings of Leon sound fans know and love, but the verses show a new side to the group that’s been around for over 20 years.

“It’s like we allowed ourselves to be musically vulnerable,” drummer Nathan Followill said.

After Can We Please Have Fun drops on May 10, Kings of Leon will be heading out on a North America tour.

“I was angry, lustful, gluttonous, distrustful ’til I woke up and said, ‘None of this is Russell,'” he raps in the new clip. “Give me me back. I took the keys back and changed the locks so I don’t relapse. Won’t let the devil creep back in, believe that.” 

 

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Before her audition, Breinholt told judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan about her adoption story.

“I was adopted as early as I was able to understand it. My mom struggled for several years trying to get pregnant and eventually they decided to go through the adoption process. I have the best family in the world. They’ve always supported me,” Breinholt said.

She knew some details about her birth mother, Amy Lopez, but wanted to know more. When Breinholt turned 21, she began looking for Lopez and discovered she was also a singer.

“I instantly knew where I got my ear from and where I got my voice from—it just all clicked.”

Sadly, Lopez had passed away in 2013 due to complications with Lupus. Brienholt still reached out to her birth family last summer to connect and discovered she came from a family of singers.

“My birth family was looking for me for probably the last eight years. Knowing that I have another family out there who’s equally excited to know and love me was amazing,” Breinholt told the judges.

She had only spoken to members of her birth family through Facetime but had been making plans to finally meet them in person in a few weeks.

Breinholt then moved on to the actual audition, performing “There Was Jesus” by Zach Williams and Dolly Parton while playing the piano.

The judges gave her positive responses, but before they announced their decision, Perry asked Breinholt if she wanted to invite her family into the room to join her. When she opened the door, there was a surprise already waiting for her on the other side: her birth family was waiting alongside her adoptive parents.

Perry then suggested Breinholt should play one of her birth mother’s songs for the families.

“Music is connection. Music is emotion. Music is heart. You’re not the only person out there that’s searching for their birth family,” Perry said.

“It’s wonderful to have them all together and it’s so wonderful for your mom and dad to see this and to be so open and loving and supportive about this,” she continued. “I’m sure there was a big loss for your birth family, and for you to sing like that, I think it’s healing,” she added.

And, in front of her entire family, the judges told her she was “going to Hollywood” to compete on the show.

Everyone was excited, including Zach Williams and Dolly Parton, who shared their reaction to the audition on X.

“It’s amazing to see how God continues to use this song! Praying for McKenna and her family this season,” Zach Williams said.

The other day I was working with @dollyparton and we watched McKenna Breinholt’s audition performance of our song “There Was Jesus” on @AmericanIdol. Dolly saw it for the first time so we filmed this reaction. pic.twitter.com/3JJJhcRmh1

— Zach Williams (@zachwilliams) February 8, 2024

“I’ve been a big fan of Jon Foreman for years, so I am pumped to include him on this tour,” Lake said.

Known as the lead vocalist of Switchfoot, Foreman has also released solo projects throughout his career, like his upcoming album, In Bloom, which drops later this spring.

Foreman will be joining the tour as a special guest, along with gospel artist DOE, who is set to open each night. The mixture of worship, gospel and alt-rock music will surely make for an interesting experience; but while the artists come from different genres, Lake said there’s one common goal for the tour.

“I’m praying that people will walk away from each concert feeling a sense of freedom to step into who God has called them to be,” he said.

The tour kicks off on March 7 in Birmingham, Alabama, before wrapping up in Lake’s hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, on May 5. Tickets are available at brandonlake.co.

“I might get canceled for this one,” Asbury joked. 

While leading worship at a men’s correctional facility, Asbury shared the funny yet raw story for the first time ever. It involved a chiropractor, some weed gummies and a startling revelation about Jesus. Listen for yourself here:

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Less than a week after releasing, Vultures 1 — Kanye West’s collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign — is in the process of being removed from all platforms.

FUGA, the album’s distribution service, released a statement saying that it is working to have it pulled from all streaming services.

Over the weekend, West uploaded the album to DSPs through FUGA’s automated platform. However, the company had already declined to distribute the record. Now, FUGA says they are working directly with streaming platforms to remove the project. At the time of publication, the album has been removed from the iTunes store and Apple Music (although a few singles are still lingering), and Spotify has removed a song that interpolates Donna Summer’s 1977 song “I Feel Love,” apparently without permission.

FUGA spoke with Variety about their decision to remove the album:

“Late last year, FUGA was presented with the opportunity to release Vultures 1. Exercising our judgment in the ordinary course of business, we declined to do so. On Friday, February 9, 2024, a long-standing FUGA client delivered the album Vultures 1 through the platform’s automated processes, violating our service agreement. Therefore, FUGA is actively working with its DSP partners and the client to remove Vultures 1 from our systems.”

West released distributed Vultures 1 a day after his controversial album release concert in Chicago. During the event, the livestream was cut short almost immediately after West began chanting, “I’m still crazy, bipolar, antisemite and I’m still the king.”

The Americana band performed their single “Find Your People” off their latest album, Strangers No More. 

Holcomb spoke with RELEVANT about creating an album that could unite people from all walks of life through his music.

“There’s so many beautiful ingredients in music that connect with everybody in different ways. There’s so many different bands that connect with different people and everybody’s got their own experience. But in this beautiful way, music brings people from all ways of life together,” he said. 

Here are five Christian artists who are exploding on TikTok:

1. Madison Ryann Ward

Madison Ryann Ward has combined her love for God with her love for R&B and folk music. Her powerhouse voice will have you hooked from the first moment, but its her soulful and hope-filled lyrics that will keep you coming back for me.

@kaylahluvx

Can’t keep going back…~ #madisonryannward #christiantiktok #prayer #God #music #fyp #concert #anewthing

♬ original sound – Kaylah Luvx

2. RIDERS

RIDERS, the brainchild of brothers Joshua and Spencer Brennt, have taken over TikTok with their catchy songs and relatable lyrics. RIDERS’ music is known for its exciting melodies and honest lyrics about faith, love and hope. Their latest single “Glued to You,” has been blowing up on TikTok, and it’s easy to see why.

@joshbrennt

WE ATE LlNK lN BlO #fyp #dance #newmusicfriday #newmusic

♬ Fake Fix – RIDERS & Circuit Rider Music

3. Jimmy Clifton

If you’re looking for a singer-songwriter who mixes folk, country and gospel, look no further than Jimmy Clifton. Clifton’s music is known for its warm vocals, and his introspective and vulnerable lyrics about faith, family, and life. He recently dropped his latest project, I Love You All the More.

@jimmycliftonmusic

Come On Love out friday! #christianmusic

♬ original sound – Jimmy Clifton

5. Angie Rose

Angie Rose is a Christian singer-songwriter who has been making a name for herself on TikTok. Her music is a total vibe, constantly crossing genres and using her music to promote healing and her faith. She’s worked with some of our other favorite artists like Social Club Misfits to Wande — and she’s just getting started.

@angierosemusik

Song: “Hearts In Pain” by Angie Rose Said no to mainstream for living water Hoodie and beanie www.unstoppablethreadz.store

♬ Hearts in Pain – Angie Rose & Poetics

One-half of the indie sensation SURFACES, Forrest Frank is making his own mark in the music industry with a string of soul-stirring tracks. From “No Longer Bound” to “Altar,” Frank’s chill beats and heartfelt lyrics have clearly struck a chord with his 1.5 million monthly Spotify listeners. And collaborations with artists like Hulvey and his latest album “New Hymns” have further cemented his rising status.

@hiforrestt

“Altar” OUT NOW #fyp #christian #worship #viral #trending #jesus #christianmusic

♬ Altar by Hulvey x Forrest Frank – forrest frank

In director Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster Barbie, a doll meant to be played with as an idealized, aspirational toy is struggling with feelings of imperfection and death (even while dancing). So Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, embarks upon a journey of discovery, beyond the boundaries of her Dream House. Her exploration is rooted in angst regarding the inevitability of death and our collective longing for purpose.

Billie steps into Barbie’s shoes, where the pressures of conforming to an ideal clash with her longing to be real. Reduced to a commodity, she’s cut off from her feelings. This tension can short-circuit our creative pursuits. The pressure to perform, to be perfect, can overwhelm us when we know our shortcomings. Having experienced joy, we wrestle with how to process complex feelings of sadness. Doubt and indecision stymie us. Our earlier confidence is replaced by the haunting question, “What Was I Made For?”

In an interview with Allure, Eilish recalled writing the song with her brother Finneas “in a period of time where we couldn’t have been less inspired and less creative.” Despite winning seven Grammys and an Oscar, Eilish felt like a failure, “We’ve lost it. Why are we even doing this?” “It” is the ability to create, to find something new to say. In reflecting upon Barbie’s search for significance, Billie connected with her own creative crisis. Only after finishing the song, Eilish “realized it was about me. It’s everything I feel. And it’s not just me—everyone feels like that, eventually.” For Barbie, for Billie, the song is a search for meaning, for something we’re made for.

As a producer, Finneas builds a subtle mix of strings while layering in Billie’s background harmonies that support her lead vocal. These polished sounds only reinforce the direct expression in the lyrics. This weekend, Billie and Finneas will likely win Grammys for Song and Record of the Year before accepting a  probable second Oscar for “Best Original Song” in March.

“What Was I Made For?” is the song of the year because it is also the question of the era. It captures the anxious zeitgeist prompted by the rise of generative A.I.  Its efficiency make us question our purpose but we must also ask, “What was A.I. made for?” What exactly are we doing with it? Is it supposed to give us more time to deal with life’s bigger questions? With “menial” tasks (like reading and writing, painting and drawing) simplified, we can seemingly carve out additional space for groundbreaking research and innovation.

Instead, it is prompting even more anxiety, offering shortcuts enabled by machine learning.  Authors, musicians, and artists are increasingly discovering that is a coded term for copyright theft. Students and teachers wonder if it can read faster and generate quicker, then why bother? What is homework made for? In a voracious search for predictability, artificial intelligence is gobbling up whatever data sets and artistic creativity is placed on its path – with or without creators’ consent. Artificial intelligence is built upon human intelligence. Its predictions are rooted in all that we’ve said and made before. Copyright lawyers may be the only attorneys to benefit from such brazen theft.

In an age of artificiality, Billie and Barbie traffic in authenticity.  Eilish directs and stars in her own video for the song. She dresses as her younger self, playing with dolls, trying on outfits and roles. Who can I be? Doctor, debutante, surfer? Child’s play is inherently unpredictable and inefficient. Creativity is about surprise, discovering something you didn’t know about a character, the world or ourselves. In the feature film, Ruth Hendler, the founder of Mattel, offers advice to her confused creation. Barbie seeks permission to become human. Yet, Ruth suggests that Barbie already has plenty of self-determination. How will she exercise that freedom? Can we recover what it means to be authentic and human while everything is being reduced to predictive algorithms?

On a visit to the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, I was struck by their exhibit celebrating the arrival of self-driving cars. It suggested how much smoother and safer traffic will be with A.I. behind the wheel. Riders were pictured inside a car, with their hands-free to type and scroll on their devices. The promise was clear: “If the car drives you, then you can spend more time on computers.” We can work more. Earlier. Reclaiming our time — so we can spend more hours on social media and spreadsheets. But what if we enjoy driving? The sense of agency we retain, to adjust our speed and music to match our mood is liberating.  Will we still notice slight differences in the sunlight or in our neighborhoods if we no longer need to watch the road? Doesn’t driving help us process our thoughts? It is rare, unstructured time to contemplate where we’re heading or what we’ve just encountered. It is an opportunity to rewind or unwind or even daydream.

Barbie’s ability to discover a world beyond her imagination is rooted in driving. A road trip in her pink Corvette inspires new possibilities. In the age of A.I., Barbie and Billie remind us that H.I. – human imagination, ingenuity, and inspiration — remains our enduring super-power. What are we made for? To create, to drive, to sing, to dream.

Craig Detweiler is President of the Wedgwood Circle and author of the forthcoming book, Honest Creativity: The Foundations of Boundless, Good, and Inspired Innovation from Morehead Publishing.

Like their mainstream counterparts, Christian artists weren’t immune to the appeal of overdramatic power ballads, big-budget ambitions and ’80s cinema technology. Unfortunately, not all pop artists can be Michael Jackson, and Christian music budgets were apparently 1/5,000th of mainstream labels.

Combine that with the phenomenon of home-grown videos from earnest fans and churches on Christian TV, and well, you’ve got quite the well of entertaining nostalgic Christian music videos to pull from.

Here’s a look back at eight of the greatest Christian music videos ever to grace religious TV networks, public access station airwaves or church sanctuaries.

(And let’s be honest, this might be the first of a 200-part series.)

“Love Calling” — Leon Patillo

The alien outfit. The strange space-God metaphor. The earnest acting. The sci-fi effects. The choreography. The car scene. There’s nothing about 1984’s “Love Calling” that isn’t spectacular. Leon Patillo’s breakout single is a masterpiece in every sense of the word.

“Jesus Is My Friend” – Sonseed

If you’ve had an Internet connection for any substantial amount of time, then it’s likely you’ve seen the incredible live-performance video for Sonseed’s “Jesus Is My Friend.” If it were released today, the song’s Vampire Weekend catchiness, Tim and Eric-style video quality and sweet matching outfits probably would have made Sonseed un-ironic indie rock stars.

“Reborn” — Rebecca St. James

Rebecca St. James’ foray into EDM ends up like a low-budget Wachowski fever dream. Kung-fu moves, a driving dance beat and a trippy visual metaphor for knowledge make the music video for “Reborn” everything you’d want out of a colorful mind-melter.

“The Renewed Mind Is the Key”

The less we know about this one, the better (The Lady Gaga version is also of note if you like the original). Presented without further comment:

“Ain’t No Safe Way” – Michael Sweet

Virginity has long been a thematic staple of CCM music. But no artist has more boldly made a case for his purity convictions than former Stryper frontman Michael Sweet. We should probably give you a TV-14 warning that his song carries some mature subject matter, some possibly questionable statistics and a guitar solo that will melt your face off.

“Great God” – Carman

Another epic short film/music video mash-up, “Great God” finds Carman as both the cool teacher at a Christian school, as well as a heroic knight out to reclaim the good name of the medieval church. There’s sword fighting, lecturing and of course, a Carman power anthem. For a Christian kid in the ’90s, this was probably pretty cool, but like a lot of swing-for the-fences decades-old music videos, the ambitious narrative doesn’t really age well–especially the twist ending. If it weren’t for the (SPOILER) suggestion that the telepathic time-travel to the dark ages actually happened, this one may not of have made the list. Carman is prolific, but the M. Night Shyamalan-style final reveal was even too much for him to attempt.

“Nu Thang” — The Michael Clancy Remix

He’s got the moves, the beat, the freestyle skills and—most importantly—the swag. Young Michael Clancy took a dc Talk staple and showed the CCM stars how a real MC spits verses.

(A grown-up Clancy was kind enough to join us on an episode of the RELEVANT Podcast to relive his glorious early-’90s television debut.)

“R.I.OT.” — Carman

Carman’s “R.I.O.T.” is more of a victim of the era than its ambition. Back in 1995, when the album R.I.O.T. (Righteous Invasion of Truth) was released—a mere 11 years after Footloose hit theaters—factory dance-offs were still seen as a legitimate form of protest. The video, which involves some sort of dance uprising at a steam factory where workers’ primary job is to pull heavy chains while wearing overalls, has nothing to do with the song lyrics which make it all the more gloriously weird. Considering the video was part of a VHS feature film (also called R.I.O.T.), it’s a little unfair to judge it on its stand-alone merit, but even with a deeper context, dance-offs are always unintentionally funny, just ask Kevin Bacon.

“Christ-Like Crusin'” – B-SHOC 

This nearly five-minute long music video is a wild ride start to finish. Crusin’ like Christ all around what we assume is his hometown, B-SHOC shows us how to “put them Jesus Beats in, and ride.”

“Baby Got Book” – Dan Smith

Parodies can either go horribly wrong or surprisingly good, and we’ll let you decide who this Christian take on “Baby Got Back” goes. Dan Smith takes a fairly un-Christian song to make it all about God’s Word. Not an easy task, and he gets mega points for his creativity.

The rapper, decked out in his signature mint green, joined musical guest Justin Timberlake to perform their new song, “Sanctified.” In the middle of a rather lackluster episode, the “monuMINTal moMINT,” as Nwigwe called it, was everything we needed.

 

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The song isn’t on streaming (yet), so check out the performance below:

“It was totally on purpose,” Gardner said with a laugh. “I posted online to our fans: ‘Anybody who’s coming to see our tour, DM a screenshot of your ticket and we’ll just send you a Dropbox link.’”

It’s a bold move for an indie band. After months of teases, advertisements and buildup for sales, to leak your own album a mere few days before the release is, frankly, unheard of. But it’s also Kings Kaleidescope’s MO. They’re not looking to play by anyone’s rules. Instead, they’re forging their own path forward, even if they’re the only ones doing it this way.

For the entirety of their decade-long career, Kings Kaleidoscope has had to straddle the line of being Christians in a band. Not by their choice, but by culture’s desire to find a label for everything. It’s often made Gardner feel like a bit of a broken record.

Enter his sarcastic robot voice: “We’re Christians, but we’re not a Christian band.” He gets why people have trouble categorizing them.

“For me, Kings Kaleidoscope has always been so clearly a band that makes music about faith for people that need help to have faith,” he explains. “In my mind, we are a full-on Christian band — always. I don’t care if people think that makes us corny, or whatever word you want to fill in the blank. Kings Kaleidoscope is a Christian band.”

Gardner likens the band to Hulvey, a rapper who is quickly becoming one of the most popular Christian artists.

“Hulvey is awesome because he’s doing his own thing, which is basically worship rap,” Gardner said. “It’s so cool because he’s so unpretentious. He just is who he is, and I want there to be just plain Christian artists like that.”

The current Christian music landscape is in two similar but distinct camps, at least the way Gardner sees it. There are artists like Hulvey who are making point-blank Christian music. Then, there are other artists who are distinctly just Christians making music.

Both are needed, Gardner says, but from his perspective, he wants Kings Kaleidoscope to be unapologetically Christian music, no matter what anyone may think of that label.

“In the last few years, I’ve come to fully accept and celebrate that I’m a contrarian in a lot of ways,” Gardner said. “And I think that’s good. I think God makes contrarians to push things around. I just feel like I’m made to just push things around. It’s kind of like I’m a little bulldozer.”

Gardner’s contrarian ways are probably most evident in Kings Kaleidoscope’s music. Each studio album is distinctly different from the last, not only in theme but also in sound. Many people have had a difficult time categorizing the band sonically over the years — Are they pop? Worship? Hip-Hop? Emo?

The short answer is all of the above. Gardner wants the band to expand their sound to every genre possible.

For their most recent record, Kings Kaleidoscope, the band spent weeks together at an old studio located on a retreat center creating dozens of songs with no clear through-message to tie them together.

At the time, it was simply a place for the band to get away from the chaos of the world — the lingering effects of the pandemic, daily responsibilities, the constant scrolling through social media — and create not only exciting music but also memories. The group would spend an hour in the studio, challenging each other to create songs in as many different genres as they could, before going to play a game of basketball.

Initially, the group walked away with 14 “serious songs” that would be released on their fourth studio album, Baptized Imagination.

“That album really stemmed from the isolating time we’d all just been through,” Gardner said. “For me, I was seriously wrestling with the root of my lifelong anxiety disorder. So Baptized Imagination really captures my narrative of that time. It was a difficult album to create, but we found a way to still infuse surrender and hope into the songs.”

The band released Baptized Imagination in October 2022 and quickly began touring their new music. But soon, they realized that they’d left something special on the cutting room floor — a second album full of pure joy, excitement and love.

“It became clear that this album was self-referencing to the fact of how our band encourages each other,” Gardner explained. “The songs are very interpersonal. They’re not like our other albums, where I’m wrestling with God and my faith in very dramatic gestures. These are lighthearted songs of encouragement.”

Gardner describes the songs as “awkwardly fun,” probably because of the way the music came together. Early on, the band decided to embrace cheesiness and corniness as often as they could.

One night, for instance, Gardner had been working on a song for hours when an idea popped in his head that he never had before.

“The song had this big double drum version that was all wrong, and suddenly I realized what the song needed instead: congas, because everyone hates congas,” Gardner said. “So I drove as fast as I could to Guitar Center, bought a set of congas, and came back to the studio to finish the song.”

It became a fun challenge for Gardner and his bandmates to push themselves in a new creative space like they never had before. To everyone’s surprise, it was the most freeing experience they’d had making an album together.

“It’s funny, but that’s freedom,” Gardner said. “Changing the perception on what is corny or too cliche was a lighthearted, fun challenge.”

Hearing Gardner describe his own music as corny may not seem like a good thing, but he only sees it as a positive.

“Everything is corny for a time and everything is not corny for a time,” he explains. “Kind of like the idea that all things are permissible. Nothing is off the table when it comes to our music, even corniness.”

But it wasn’t just a fun, cheesy sound the band was seeking after. Even lyrically, the band gave themselves permission and the freedom to have fun making nonsensical lyrics.

Take “Forever Again,” for example. Sonically, the song is incredibly joyful. But taking a closer listen to the lyrics, you can audiably hear Gardner’s joy in singing the line, “you’re living and it’s awesome.”

“It’s like the silliest lyric ever,” Gardner says. “But it also could mean so much if you just shifted your mind on it. And that became the one through-line on the album: What is fun? What makes us smile? What makes us think, ‘that’s actually ridiculous’? And then we went in on that as hard as we could.”

The album is a noticeable departure from the band’s deeply emotional discography. But after a handful of albums wrestling with hope, identity, faith, family — all things Gardner has never had a problem talking about — he wanted to focus on something lighter. Something that fans could breathe in with ease.

“There’s a sort of pressure valve release in a lot of these songs,” Gardner said, “where it’s just very free and communal. We experienced a lot of joy making this record, and it’s fun to listen to these songs and tangibly hear it.”

That’s not to say there hasn’t been joy in previous records. There’s pockets of it here and there, mixed in with philosophical wonderings (Zeal), lament (The Beauty Between), or even raw conversations between Gardner and God (Beyond Control). But the band has been known to create music for Christians in the middle of a fight. Fans who are wrestling with faith and hope to come out on the other side in one piece.

It’s a feeling Gardner resonates with all too well.

“I don’t think my friends walk around and think, ‘Oh, Chad is just so hopeful,’” he admits. “I think I actually have an intensity to me and, there’s a sharpness to the way that I view myself and the world.”

Underneath the exterior, though, is the joy and hope that appears in Kings Kaleidoscope’s music. It shapes Gardner’s ultimate worldview, so why wouldn’t it shape his work?

“It doesn’t surprise me when I write a song full of surrender and a very hopeful outlook,” he said. “That’s just what I long for. It’s probably the deepest desire of my heart: for the gospel to be real, and for Christ to feel more alive and true in me than anything else in the world. It’s for me to feel like my existence is on purpose and beautiful.

“It’s sort of inevitable that the music is going to end up there because it’s what I want more than anything else in the world,” he continues. “But it’s a choice, too. Life is so hard, and I’ve gone through so much in my life up to this point that I can’t imagine just sitting with it with no hope on the other side of it.”

Gardner knows firsthand how difficult life can be, but he’s also discovered the joy and peace that can only come from following after God. It’s not an easy view to balance, but it is an honest one.

Perhaps his earnestness is what helped Kings Kaleidoscope to earn a dedicated fan base. Fans resonate with the band’s music on a deep level, whether the songs they listen to are about fighting for hope or rejoicing in salvation.

It’s definitely why Gardner doesn’t regret leaking his album a week early. “These songs are the pockets of joy that we had together while everybody was sort of at home facing their demons the last couple of years,” he said. “And I know we weren’t the only ones feeling that way who needed a reminder of joy and hope.”

That doesn’t mean it was an easy decision to make, Gardner clarifies. Because to him, Kings Kaleidoscope is not simply a group of multi-talented musicians. The fans are just as much a part of the group as the members themselves.

“We have a great, almost cult-like thing going with all of our fans, and they’re just so diehard,” Gardner explained. “So we thought, why not take care of them before we take care of a music chart statistic?”

At his core, the “Reckless Love” singer has to live his truth, for better or worse.

That doesn’t mean he’s rude or steps on people’s toes, but it does mean he’s going to do what he feels called to do, whether you like it or not.

That’s what gave him the confidence to release an album unlike anything he’d released before. Pioneer isn’t like his past worship albums. In fact, it’s not really a worship album at all.

There’s a clear country influence to it, although a country fan might hesitate to call it a country album. Instead, it bridges the unique crossroads of Americana, folk, country and worship.

“We actually called it The Bridge Project,” Asbury explained. “It’s a bridge from one way of doing things to another, but not necessarily because I plan on becoming a country guy. It’s just because I love the tradition of the beauty of country music writing. I think there’s such value to that and even bringing that back into this world over here.”

Asbury isn’t too concerned about what people will think of his new music (and even his offbeat social media humor) because he’s happy with where he’s headed.

It’s been three years since you released an album. What’s been going on since then?

I mean, a lot has happened, but one of the biggest is that my wife and I came out of nearly 18 years of full-time ministry at a church. This is the first time we’ve not been on staff at a church.

We just attend church, and it’s been refreshing. We’ve been processing life and what the past 18 years of ministry have looked like for us — some of the difficult things, some of the things that were painful about it — and letting the Lord talk to those things and heal those places. It’s been really beautiful. It’s been really powerful.

We’re not post-church or anything like that. But there’s stuff that happens that’s real, and if you don’t address it, don’t hit it head-on, you’ll live in bitterness and offense.

We processed a lot of life and ministry, and the Lord met us in the middle of that; even the past two or three years since we’ve been here, it’s been really sweet.

Why did you decide it was time to get back into music?

The idea that I took a step back from music is probably not quite accurate. I took a step back from being public with music. I needed to do some deep heart work. And in the middle of that, I was still writing a ton of music.

So yeah, it has been three years since I released music, but I needed to withdraw a little bit and feel and process and decompress.

This project seemingly has an added layer of vulnerability. Is it easy to be honest in your music?

I don’t think I can’t. I can’t not be honest. I listen to some Christian music, and I’ll think, Is that really how you feel? I hear some songs and everything wraps up by the bridge, and everything is amazing again. And I think, “Dude, I know your life. It’s not like that.” I know my life isn’t like that. It’s really difficult for me to write songs that aren’t just 100% out there, wide open and honest because it’s what I need.

And if it’s what I need, then it’s probably what a lot of folks need. It’s our job as artists to give language to the stuff that we feel on an everyday basis, whether it’s losing a friend, a family member, someone getting married, losing a baby, a marriage dissolving after years.

If I’m experiencing it as the leader guy who sings cool songs and receives from God, then I’m guessing that “regular people” are probably experiencing it as well. So, I prefer someone I know and trust would write about that.

You’ve got a lot of country influence in your new music. Where’s that coming from?

I love organic instruments — guitars and stringed instruments. I think they’re beautiful. There’s something so special about actually playing the instruments. So much of our music is processed. It’s synthesizers, keyboards, all these digital sort of sounds and samples. When I go to a show, I want hear people play instruments.

I grew up listening to that kind of music. Even in North Carolina, there’s a country vibe and influence where bluegrass is big. I think I fell in love with that sound, but it felt like in Christian music, when I first started making music, you sort of had to do a very specific sound and style, a lot of pads, a lot of soundscapes.

But these instruments bring such emotion. There’s such evocative, emotional, something unquantifiable to it. I returned to it and was like, man, I love this kind of music. I wonder if we could produce this record more along those lines.

Everyone’s calling me “Country Cory” now on social media, and I don’t even think it’s fully in that lane. But even if it was, I wouldn’t mind.

Being in Nashville didn’t help that penchant, of course. If anything, it made me want to go after it more, but it felt like it fit the music because the songs are very story-driven.

That’s the tradition of country music. You’re telling a story, you’re bringing the listener in, and hopefully you’re giving them a lesson through this story, whether you’re talking about someone else or telling your own tales.

Aside from your burgeoning country career, you also have a lot of fun on TikTok. What do you like about showing a different side of yourself on social media?

There’s something to the rawness of TikTok that appeals to me. I think it appeals to a lot of young people because no one wants the fake veneer. Everyone wants it real and honest. That’s the beauty of TikTok. It doesn’t have to look cool; it doesn’t have to even feel cool.

It just is what it is, and there’s something raw to that. That fits my personality. I’m just going to say it to you how it is. And if that hurts your feelings, I’m sorry, but I’m just going to say how it is.

I think people just want real right now. They don’t want you to fake something. They don’t want you to fabricate something.

I use humor because I think comedy was created to be a social commentary. You think of the court jesters back in the day: it was literally their job to poke fun at stuff and then to bring social change because of it.

@coryasbury God’s love is #not #reckless ♬ original sound – Cory Asbury

That’s what they were created to do, and the king would go, “OK, you’re right. You’re poking fun at the poor for this, and you’re poking fun at the rich for this. I might make a few changes here” And they were allowed to say it as plainly as they wanted using humor. For some reason, you know, that’s just the way it was.

And there’s something to that, creating a social commentary and being able to say this and that about different things and have people receive it. Because I’m not railing against something. I’m not screaming and yelling, I’m not cussing, I’m not freaking out, I’m just pointing out, “This is funny the way this is, don’t you think?” And people realize it is.

Would you say that TikTok is your favorite social media platform?
Yeah, but I can’t say that too loud, or else people get mad.

After taking a few years off to truly consider what a Cold War Kids album could (and should) sound like, frontman Nathan Willett decided that it was time to try something new.

He just hopes others will join them for the ride.

“I know that our hardcore fans will be with us through whatever music we release because they’ve been doing that since the beginning,” Willet said. “So to try something new and vulnerable at this point in our career is a bit risky. I like that we’re willing to take that risk.”

But the band is used to taking risks and trying new things. If they weren’t, they would never have gotten their start in the first place.

Formed in 2004, Willet and Matt Maust met in La Mirada, California on the campus of Biola University. The private Christian university wasn’t exactly what one would consider to be the birthplace of an influential rock band, but for Willet and Maust, it was the beginning of their musical journey.

“This group of friends met and were drawn to each other at a Christian college, and we started the band in a strange environment where we realized, what are we all doing here?” Willet said. “We came from a place of growing up, listening to music, and going to shows, and there’s a type of sweetness where we were sheltered from the music industry or wanting to be successful at any cost.”

Since their early days, Cold War Kids has known not only who they are but who they want to be. Even during the most recent process of reinventing themselves, Willet says he never strayed from that vision.

“The band started out with four guys who have very specific tastes and styles, and now it’s mostly me making the records in a way I love and have always envisioned,” Willett says. “The sound of Cold War Kids has always been there, and I wanted this record to be the ideal, best version of all those things we’ve always been.”

Enter Cold War Kids. The self-titled album is something the band has been inching toward for the past two decades. Willet says he pushed himself to a new creative minidset to ensure the band’s 10th album was their best one of their career.

“If I’ve got five songs done that I’ve worked on in a certain way, I tend to want to put them out as an EP and go do some shows around it,” Willett explained. “Continually as my brain would go to that place, I’d go, no, just wait, and really put together a full-length record. I needed to approach things very differently and work with some new people in a way that was a little uncomfortable. But this album is where I’ve most felt like I was the executive producer of everything.”

It’s surprising to hear an artist with Willet’s catalog talk about trying new things. Surely if the band has maintained success through an era of physical CDs, radio charts, streaming platforms and, as of lately, TikTok, they should feel confident creating another album. But that’s not how Willet sees his career.

“For so many years, we were white-knuckling it and feeling like we were imposters,” Willett admits. “I realized that I can’t think that way. If I’m not sure I can listen back to something and know that it’s great, then I shouldn’t be putting it out.”

A lot of that uncertainty is due to the time when Cold War Kids got its start. Willet explains it was a rather difficult time in music. As they were coming up, critics were looking at music in an “academic way,” nitpicking every note and lyric a band used, looking deep into context in ways no artist could properly prepare for.

“We kind of got beaten up around all that critique in the beginning,” Willet admits. “Eventually we realized we had to keep going, keep writing, recording and touring on our own terms.”

Now, Willet doesn’t look at what reviewers have to say about the band or their music. It doesn’t matter. They listen to their fans, but even more importantly, they listen to themselves. That’s a lesson that they have learned not only with age, but also from up-and-coming artists.

“They just don’t care what people think of them,” Willet says with a laugh. He enjoys the lack of cynicism that’s entered the music scene these days. Whereas Cold War Kids had to fight it’s way through a “rigid, holier than thou, ‘nothing is cool’” mentality, there’s more optimism and space to do whatever you want, however you want.

“We were really nervous about our music being perceived as silly, or something like that, because of how critical everyone was,” Willet said. “So it’s nice now that everyone’s just doing whatever they want and they’re finding their own lane.”

That doesn’t mean that Willet is any less intentional with the band’s music. If anything, he’s trying harder. But not to receive recognition from critics. Rather, he’s trying harder to enjoy his music and the whole process in general.

“I think you have to knock down the whole seriousness and studiousness of music in order to get something new,” he said.

That’s much easier said than done, and Willet knows it. Having grown up in an era of “pretentious music,” Willet struggled charting Cold War Kids path among some of their contemporaries.

“There was this moment where everyone was trying to be Ivy League-y in their music, “ Willet said. “And no offense to bands like Vampire Weekend or Dirty Projectors who that worked for, but I always felt outside of that.

“I was always kind of critical of that that and how into itself it was,” he continued. “There’s no easy way to say this, but spiritually, it didn’t ascend to something higher. It felt like very much the sum of its influences were the product. And that doesn’t do anything for me.”

Willet has always looked for something that inspired others, as opposed to creating something that was inspired by others. While other bands at the time were looking to “be the smartest people in the room,” Cold War Kids wanted to be the ones evoking the most emotion.

For Cold War Kids, they’ve always just wanted to be their own band, making music they’re proud to release. And if that means reinventing themselves from time to time and trying new things, they’re willing to do it.

“The biggest driving force for our music is, is it good?” Willet says. “Does it move you or not? And that is so intangible and so hard and so subjective that sometimes as the artist we don’t really know.”

Yet, despite the ever-evolving music industry, Willet is excited about where everything is headed.

“The whole culture around music has changed so much in the last 20 years, like stuff like reviews and fans drilling into the meaning and message and artist,” he said. “It’s very different. And I don’t think we sort of are put through a microscope in that way.”

Willet sees the freedom the music industry offers as both a curse and a blessing. After nearly 20 years of calculated music-making, he can step into a raw, vulnerable place he’s never allowed himself to creatively explore.

“Anytime you put out as much music as we have, you run the risk of people not having context for your story and knowing how to contextualize like this piece of music and what this means to the artist and that’s why it has a certain emotion or power. I feel like pop is really good at that. You have to know what that person is going through in their life in order to hear a new song through that lens. But for where we come from, I haven’t done that.

“I haven’t tried to really share my personal life and connect it to the music because that hasn’t really been the most interesting thing to me,” he continues. “To do that 10 albums in is funny because I don’t know if people will even notice or care. But that is what made me want to do it.”

Cold War Kids, in many ways, is an album 20 years in the making. Two decades ago, Willet sat around with his bandmates wondering who they could and should be as artists. Ten albums later, they’ve finally got their answer.

That is, until their next album.

Minor has spent the last several years working through the hurt he experienced after witnessing the hypocrisy of the church up close and personal, both from the hands of his pastor but also the people who were supposed to be his “brothers and sisters in Christ.”

“I mean honestly, there was a time when I was done with ‘church people,’” Minor says. “I tried my best as far as music is concerned to find any way away from Christians. I felt like I needed to find something else to do besides be around this. And in that isolation, as I was in different places, I realized you can leave the Church, but you still are faced with the fact that people aren’t perfect.”

On the outside, Minor was cautious of what he let slip out. But on the inside, he felt like his faith had been completely shaken.

“Religion and faith is the innermost part of us,” he said. “Whether you’re religious or not, whatever that thing is that you hold, that faith that you have that there is no God, that’s a core essential part of your being as much as it is my faith that I do believe there is a God. And when you’re shaking at your core, that gets all shaken up. You’re like, man, I’ve got to get out of here.

“So you go somewhere else and you find out those people aren’t perfect,” he continues. “And then you go somewhere else and you find out they’re also not perfect. Then you look in the mirror and you say, well, ‘I’m not perfect either, so what’s the point?’”

That’s the question Minor has spent the last few years seeking an answer for: what is the point of all this? The triumphs and turmoil, the infinite and the finite, the love and despair in our world. Surely someone out there has the answer… right?

Living Authentically

Minor has spent his entire career carving out his own path and determining what works for him. Born Derek Johnson, Jr., he co-founded the hip-hop record label Reflection Music Group later signing to Reach Records in a joint venture in 2011. After releasing two studio albums with Reach, Minor announced he would no longer be working with the label.

For years, Minor lived as a nomad on his own. He felt like he was on an island, trying to get off through his own strength without letting people know he was stranded.

“Truthfully, I think people could tell something was up,” Minor laughed. “I’m pretty honest all the time, so they knew something was going on. They just didn’t know exactly where I was.”

Minor struggled with maintaining his identity as a Christian hip-hop artist while questioning not only his faith but also his life calling.

“For so long, I was so busy trying to make it as an artist and I was so busy trying to be a good father and a good husband while trying to figure out my place in this world that I was so stressed out I wasn’t achieving any of those goals,” Minor said.

It wasn’t until Minor began creating his latest record, Nobody’s Perfect, that he began to find healing.

“I had to have a come to Jesus moment just as a human being,” he said. “As I began healing and working on my process, I had to let the people around me into my process.”

Part of that process was working through the loss of his dad. Minor’s relationship with his father was complicated, he shared. When he died, Minor was left feeling unsettled, longing for conversations they’d never have and wanting answers to questions he could never ask. But thinking back on the conversations they did have, Minor realized something not only about his father but also about everyone.

“I know that he loved me, but he was an imperfect man,” Minor said. “And to be real, he needed therapy. He’d been through some traumatic stuff that just had been bottled away. And when you bottle things up, it just spills out in other ways. For him, it spilled out in addiction and in fear. Fear crippled him, so he thought it was better to keep his distance from people.”

Inadvertently, Minor had picked up that same fear from his father. Instead of leaning on others through times of uncertainty and confusion, Minor would bottle his thoughts up as best he could.

It’s why he felt hesitation to share his full thoughts on social media about presidential elections or political uprisings. He might let some jokes slip out on occasion, even make a few pointed comments, but it took him a while to decide he wanted to speak fully on issues that were important to him, whether it be media, finances, racial discussions or faith.

It hasn’t been easy. In fact, many people within the Christian community have hurled insults at him and cast doubt over his faith. But Minor knows the truth about his journey.

“It’s not like I’m lukewarm,” he clarifies. “When you look at my life, I would say that I definitely bear fruit as a Christian in my life. But I know that I don’t fit the typical infrastructures that have been created for Christian creatives to thrive in.

“But I’ve discovered that the more vocal I’ve been about the position where I’ve lived for the past decade,” he continues, “the more I find that I’m not alone, that I’m not strange. There’s a large group of people who love God, and they don’t know how they fit within Christian structures.”

Through his tours, album release listening parties and even daily social media posts, Minor has discovered that there’s a large group of nomads out there who have been wandering, lost in the middle of a culture they no longer recognize and a church system they struggle to find footing in.

“I’m one of them,” Minor declares. “I love God, I believe in Jesus. I try to live as best I can according to his word, but as the structure of what I believed didn’t line up with what was reality, I didn’t know if or where I fit.”

If he’s being honest with himself, he admitted, he still isn’t entirely sure where he fits. But now, he knows he’s not alone.

“What I’ve started to realize is that we’re still a part of the Church. But we need a space where we can talk and actually be seen and not judged. There’s people on different levels of their journey. Some people are killing it and fully walking in their purpose. We need them as much as we need the people that are still figuring out their purpose. And when the body of Christ comes together like that, then you get the power.”

Over the last several months, Minor has realized his place in the world and the Church is among the nomads.

“I found my purpose in helping other people find their purpose,”  he said. “And it’s been a reawakening for me as far as creatively. I intend to speak to them and help them feel seen.

“I’m going to show them how to be vigilantes.”

The Christian Batman

There’s a scene at the end of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight where Batman, one of pop culture’s most well-known vigilantes, has the realization that in order to bring about the hope and peace he desires, he has to take on an image that people will hate; an image that they won’t understand and will conflict with the good guy persona the hero has built up thus far.

In lieu of the reality of Harvey Dent’s deception, Batman accepts that his place in Gotham isn’t the path of a traditional hero, but of a complicated anti-hero. In the eyes of the people of Gotham, he’ll be seen as a bad guy, but he knows it’s what has to happen in order for hope to live on in their world.

It’s how Minor sees his own story these days.

“That’s kind of where I land,” Minor says. “If being honest and authentic is going to make me the ‘bad guy,’ but it pushes culture to a place where the other people that feel like they don’t fit can actually say that they found something they could latch on to, then I did my job. And I’m going to let God sort out the rest.”

Minor doesn’t necessarily see himself as the poster child for being a vigilante, but he does know what it takes to become one.

“When you look at what a vigilante is, it’s a person who takes the law into their own hands,” Minor said. “They normally are normal people, but they do amazing things. Although, they don’t always do everything right. They have great successes and great failures. I really resonated with that concept.”

Vigilantes, Minor explained, don’t have to do commit a crime to get that moniker. Rather, they’re doing something counter-cultural. Whether it’s a man who has been married for 25 years and raising a family or someone who is choosing to use their finances to benefit others more than themselves, anyone can be a vigilante.

“I think sometimes we can overlook the superpower of being a decent human being is,” Minor said.

And Minor realized, if living an authentic life makes someone a “vigilante,” there needs to be a place for vigilantes to learn from and lean on one another. It’s what led him to create Vigilantes United, an online community for people who love faith, music and media to come together and find common ground. Through online discussions and events, people around the globe come together and speak about their faith, music, media and the challenges they face daily.

“I wanted to create this movement that inspired people because I feel like Christians are drawn to the sensational things,” Minor explained. “You’ll hear about a guy who prayed for 72 hours straight and think, ‘Wow, he must be a real Christian.’ That is amazing, but there are tons of other people who may not fit the structures but are doing amazing things that go unseen.”

Minor’s goal is to reach real individuals who are making changes in their communities, from their immediate family to their local church. The rapper wants everyday vigilantes to be encouraged to live the counter-cultural lifestyle they feel called to, whatever industry that’s in.

Each week, Minor sends out “an encouraging video message” that speaks to a struggle people are going through. From negative self-talk to breaking the cycle of shame to even simple life advice, no topic is too big for the vigilantes to address. Then, throughout the week, Minor facilitates conversations online via the Vigilantes United website and on social media where users are encouraged to be raw and authentic.

“I really want to equip people that are in their everyday life, that are vigilantes in their own right,” Minor said.

This doesn’t mean Minor is looking to start a brand-new church — “The title of a pastor is terrifying to me,” he said — but he wants to create a space where people can grow in their faith at their own pace, getting encouragement for their daily lives while finding solace from the chaos.

Minor, himself, has already experienced newfound growth through the initiative. Vigilantes United is just as much a space for him to be honest and authentic as anyone else.

“In the past, my honesty has been taboo for some people,” Minor explained. “But now, I’m walking boldly in my honesty, because what I realize is being honest is helping others. That friction is helping grow people, and it’s helping grow me. It’s helping me grow to be able to speak my mind in a way that is God-honoring and powerful, but also at the same time, it’s helping people who have never been exposed to someone with this level of honesty. It’s helping them stretch, and making them even feel able to be more free and less guarded.”

For the first time in a long time, Minor sees freedom and power in his future. He knows he’s not the only one walking toward that these days. His fellow vigilantes are walking alongside him, arm-in-arm as they pave their own unique path forward.

“That’s the goal,” he said. “That’s the body. That’s what we should be doing. That’s the church. Bringing our full selves to the picture and loving one another, ultimately with the goal of improvement and progress towards being more like Jesus. That’s all I want for my life.”

While filming an acoustic set for her latest album, Eight, Ligertwood had almost started the recording when the studio’s owner approached her with an old microphone in hand.

The crew had already set the stage up and the sound was exactly what everyone wanted, so she was confused about what the owner intended to do with the old microphone.  Little did she know, it wasn’t just an ordinary microphone.

“He walked right up and asked if I’d be willing to switch the microphone out for I Do,” she said. “He told me, ‘My grandfather was Billy Graham’s right-hand man. This microphone was Billy Graham’s microphone and it still has the original ribbon. I’ve had it at my house, and I’ve been saving it for when it felt like the right thing to have somebody record it on. And I felt like this shoot today, and you were the right person to use this microphone.”

With no hesitation, Ligertwood and her crew agreed. The artists gathered around a microphone in the middle of the room, focusing on the importance of not only the present moment but the moments that led up to this recording.

“We just talked for a moment about what that microphone represented, about the voice, the life of obedience that voice had spoken into, and also the words that had been spoken into that microphone, which is of course the Gospel,” she said.

“It caused us all to pause for a minute and think about the heritage that we are all standing in. Truthfully, none of us would be standing here if it wasn’t for people like Billy Graham and the generations who have gone before us who were faithful with the Gospel and their generation.”

As the day progressed, Ligertwood continued to reflect on Graham’s legacy and how his obedience led to millions of people coming to know Christ. In fact, obedience is something that she’s been thinking a lot about these days.

“I think I’m naturally a reflective person,” she said. “I think a lot about what it means to live in obedience and the consequences of that.”

Ligertwood had been spending a lot of time digging into the life of Dr. Charles Stanley after he passed away last year, when she came across his thoughts on obedience.

“One of my favorite things he said was, ‘Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him,’” she shared. “An obedience of consequence happens when you obey God without regard for the consequence, which I think is a pretty counter-cultural way to live. We’re often a real results-driven culture, but what a beautiful and freeing thing it is to live a life of faith that really trusts God with the results and leaves the consequences to Him.”

It’s a concept Ligertwood has been trying to implement in her own life. After decades of learning how to surrender to God in obedience, it’s not too hard for her to follow His lead. But when it comes to letting go of the consequences, that’s where she’s still figuring things out.

Take her second solo worship album, Eight. If it had been up to Ligertwood, she would have waited a few more months — maybe even years.

While she obeyed when she felt the Lord calling her to write new music, she wasn’t ready for people to hear them. She wasn’t ready for the consequences that could potentially come from letting everyone in on some of the darkest and most difficult moments of her life.

She still isn’t.

“In all honesty, I really wanted to wait to put this out until I’m on the other side of this incredibly difficult season where I can go, ‘I’m through it and this is how I got through it,’” she admitted. “Because that’s not my story right now. This is a record from right in the middle.”

When Ligertwood began working on this album, her life was already on a rollercoaster. Still adjusting to life post-pandemic, Ligertwood stepped away from Hillsong UNITED as the worship collective redefined itself in light of major changes at the megachurch.

Then, as Ligertwood and her family were still trying to find their footing, tragedy struck. Her mother-in-law came down with a sudden illness and died in a short amount of time.

The loss became an essential part of the album’s theme.

“It’s vulnerable to talk about because I’m still going through this season, but what I can testify to is that even in the darkness and the grief of the last couple of years for us, Jesus has been the sweetness and the sustenance and deep goodness,” she explains. “His mercy has bathed everything and detoxified the poison.

Ligertwood speaks with reverence for her current struggles, acknowledging that this project was likely more for her own journey rather than anyone else’s.

“Eight brings with it like a lot of my own grief, but an equal amount of surrender and gratitude,” she said. “It’s been healing to make, but sometimes it’s a bit traumatic to talk about. Still, it has been a really beautiful process and a redemptive process.”

She trusts that there’s a deeper reason for this season of life she’s found herself in, leaning heavily on God and her community throughout her pain and confusion.

“When I’ve tried to figure everything out on my own, I’ve just caused myself more wounding,” she said. “But when I’ve brought it to him and let him into these places of tumult in my soul, I have found his healing to be unutterably profound and sufficient.”

While she waits to see what the future holds, she’s relying on the truth of her past experiences with God to give her peace. While the amount of grief she’s working through is unlike anything she’s walked through before, she’s had plenty of practice following God’s lead through uncharted waters.

Like on her first solo record, Seven. Ligertwood said that she had no intention of ever releasing a worship album on her own. After a solo pop career as “Brooke Fraser” in her 20s, she believed that the music she created as a worship artist was meant to stay in a group dynamic.

“I think it’s so important that I’m always part of something that’s bigger than me and not just about me,” Ligertwood says. “I love being part of a team. That is my happiest spot.”

So when she realized God was pushing her to create a solo album, she was surprised.

“The Lord brought all of these songs into my life in a very short period of time, and let me tell you, I’ve been making albums long enough to know when you have a group of ten songs versus when you have a group of ten songs that belong together and are a collective statement,” Ligertwood said. “But I definitely was not trying to make an album.

“In many ways, it was my worst nightmare, but when the Lord asks you to do something, He prepares you for it. He softens your heart, He changes things. And then in the case of Seven, He spoke very clearly and very quickly.”

At the time, Ligertwood wasn’t sure if creating a solo worship album was a fun side project or something God was calling her to for a greater purpose. Months after the album was released, she found her answer.

“After Seven came out, some really devastating things began to unfold in my church community,” she said. “I’m not saying that was the whole reason why God called me on that path, but I began to maybe understand why He had started to lead us this way.”

Ligertwood admits that while she is “grateful for the shepherding of God,” she is still working through a lot of what came up during that season.

“I still get sad about it sometimes,” she said. “This is not my dream, because I love being part of a team.”

Thankfully, Ligertwood has figured out a way to maintain a spirit of collaboration, even as she pursues a widening solo career.

Later this year, she’ll also be returning to her roots and releasing new music under Brooke Fraser.

“It’s a little bit crazy, but I get to do so many fun things with my whole Brooke Fraser team,” she said. “We’ve been working together for nearly 20 years, and when you have relationships that are that deep, there’s such a comfort to that. You trust each other.”

That trust is something Ligertwood is looking far and wide for these days. While her family is still moving forward from a shaky season with the church, her team and friends have been a rock to support her through it all.

“The Lord assembled us all together in a way that only He can,” she said. “We’ve been friends for many, many years just through ministry. So it’s such an honor to do all of this with my friends, which is the best part. There’s a lot of love and a lot of trust there.”

These days, Ligertwood is laser-focused on all things honor. Over the years, she’s grown disinterested in things that have fake hype or a shiny gloss. She wants to pursue things that are real.

“When I was fully immersed in my mainstream lane as Brooke Fraser,” she said, “one of the things that I was always hesitant about was how easy it is for worship artists, and even Christians in general, to use spiritual language to load God’s name on stuff. A part of that stemmed from immaturity over the things I didn’t understand. Another part of it was also pride because I thought that I knew things that I didn’t know.

“But I was always so aware of it happening in Christian and ministry spaces,” she continued. “Now, I’m even more aware of because I’ve been around it so much, so I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to use fluffy Christian words in my ministry.”

On Eight, Ligertwood worked hard to speak the truth about her situation without adding in “fluffy Christian words.” There’s still worship and praise, obviously, but there’s also an honesty and vulnerability throughout the album that she was both terrified and excited to share.

“I’m really grateful that I get to take these songs and bring my own expression to them and bring them to life in a new way,” she said.

Ligertwood writes her music with as much intentionality as she can muster. She’s not interested in making a chart-topping megahit — not that she’d mind if she did. She’s more interested in creating music that cultivates “a hunger for Jesus.”

“I mean, that is always the highest goal,” she said. “My hope is that this record becomes a tool people can really use on their own journey with Jesus.”

Ligertwood intentionally added instrumental moments throughout the album to allow listeners to sit and hold a conversation with God. It’s a time to reflect on the good, bad, ugly, hard, easy and everything in-between moments they’ve been experiencing.

“Honestly, some of those moments are awkwardly long,” she joked. “But I’ve deliberately done it because I want people to have that time sitting with God.

“Worship is a conversation,” she explained. “Worship is seeking God through singing and speaking, but it’s also listening.

“The whole record just exists to serve you in your relationship with Jesus,” she continued. “That’s it. I don’t care if you stream the songs once or a hundred times or never. I just hope that it could perhaps fuel somebody’s hunger for the Lord.”

For Ligertwood, she’s actually not focused on creating a long-lasting musical legacy. She said if she never writes music again after this year, she trusts it’s because God has something better in store for her.

“I’m not trying to build anything,” she said. “I’m not trying to build up a legacy as Brooke Ligertwood. At this point, it’s just obedience and surrender, obedience and surrender on repeat every day of my life.”

She chooses to walk in obedience with God, taking one step at a time. Sometimes the step is toward a dream she’s always had, or sometimes it’s a step in a direction she would have never taken on her way. Wherever she’s led by God, though, she’s happy to stay along for the ride.

“If He told me to wrap up my music career after Eight, then I’m fine with that,” she said. “I’ll do whatever he wants me to do. Maybe I’ll be a baker, or I’ll become a full-time reader. I’ll become a librarian. I’ll do something else. But I’ve always said I don’t mind what I do for the Lord. I’ll do whatever He wants.”

This mindset isn’t new. It’s one Ligertwood has been putting into practice for years. She even sang about it years ago, in a worship song called “New Wine.”

In the chorus, she sang, So I yield to You into Your careful hand. When I trust You I don’t need to understand. Make me Your vessel. Make me an offering. Make me whatever You want me to be.

“I don’t want to cling to my idea of how I think God will use me,” she said. “I want Him to use me however He wants to, because ultimately, that’s the place where I will find the most fulfillment and satisfaction this side of Heaven.”

Of course, it helps that Ligertwood is a naturally inquisitive person. She’s constantly asking questions, researching answers, adding to a seemingly never-ending pile of books to read (“I’m reading five different books right now, and they could not be more different,” she said) all in the pursuit of truth. She’s inspired by King David, who she considers a fellow kindred spirit when it comes to an insatiable curiosity for God.

“David was absolutely a person of inquiry,” she explained. “He was not a perfect man, but he had a heart after God. One of the beautiful ways we can see that throughout his life is that he just kept, he never stopped inquiring of the Lord.”

In the Psalms, David has seemingly thousands of questions for God: “O Lord—how long?” (6:3). “What is man that You are mindful of him?” (8:4). “Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (10:1). “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?” (15:1).

It’s why Ligertwood isn’t afraid to ask God questions, either.

“I made that decision a long time ago, and it’s something that I’m committed to,” she said. “I never want to assume what the Lord wants. I always want to ask Him, ‘what do you think about this Lord? What do you want?’ He’s usually pretty good at putting up a giant red flag or a wall or a green light or opening a door or a window. He’s really faithful in the way that he leads us.”

There is one question, however, that Ligertwood knows she doesn’t need to ever ask God.

“One thing I don’t think we ever have to question is are we called,” she said. “Because the answer is emphatically, ‘Yes!’ If God has saved you, He has called you. We are all ultimately called to one thing, which is what we call the Great Commission.”

Of course, how that calling manifests in one’s life is a different issue. For now, Ligertwood knows that she’s been called to lead worship. Yet even within that calling, she feels an exciting pull in many directions.

“That single calling that we all have — which we are graced for, which we are filled with the Holy Spirit for, which we are led into and which sanctification helps us kind of stay on track with — that calling also can have multiple assignments,” she said.

“I think sometimes we put pressure on ourselves to determine if that calling means we have to choose one vocation or choose one thing that we do,” she continued. “And I just don’t know if it’s always that simple. For some people, it might be, but I always just think like, I won’t be doing this forever, but when I’m not anymore, that doesn’t mean I’m any less called.”

During this season, Ligertwood is embracing the opportunity to be a voice for a generation seeking after God. Some days she still can’t believe that’s her calling.

“I’ve been so honored to get to write even a single song that a church would sing,” she said. “It is so crazy to me that I have been able to be part of so many songs over the years, both through my own church community and then other church communities. It’s a complete honor just to serve, and then they can do with it whatever they want.”

Ligertwood is still taking the time to figure out when that calling could change, but until then, she’s resting in the present, knowing that God will reveal the consequence of her obedience when the time is right.

“One day, I’m going to be the old weird lady in church going up to the young people asking if they need prayer,” she joked. “And I cannot wait because I know that will be my assignment in one season. But for now, I have peace knowing that if I give my attention to yielding to the Lord and getting to know Him more, and if I genuinely desire to be in His will, it’ll be really hard for me to miss that assignment. Because when you’re asking for it, it’s actually really hard to miss it when it’s the desire of your heart.”

It’s a surprising admission from an artist whose band has released eight studio records. Over the years, NEEDTOBREATHE’s signature blend of rock, folk and alternative has earned them a devoted following, critical acclaim and widespread international success.

And now, two years after releasing Into the Mystery, the rock band dropped their ninth album, CAVES — 14 songs of self-reflection, melancholic moods and gratitude-filled lyrics.

CAVES emerges as a notable moment in their career, blending the band’s rootsy sound with a newfound connection to storytelling. The album’s name itself alludes to the idea of a hidden refuge, a place of introspection and transformation — a theme that resonates deeply with much of the human experience.

We sat down with Rinehart to discuss what inspired their latest project and what he hopes fans take away from their music.

Your latest album is called CAVES. Is there a reference to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave?

It’s interesting. I love that, and I’m aware of it, but I don’t think the inspiration was from it. But I’ve read more on it since we wrote the song, and I see how it fits. It honestly was just a feeling I had. I spent a lot of time in the last year and a half while we were making this record diving into what we do in art and why we do it.

I don’t agree with the notion that you must have this horrible life to be a good artist. I think that’s totally bogus, but our job is to wrestle with the tougher things.

As humans, you want to move on from that as fast as possible, most of the time, unless you’re in therapy or something. I think for us, it really came down to the fact that we get a year to write songs and spend time in our subconscious and wrestle with why we’re doing what we’re doing, what our motivations are, and what our failures are, instincts that have come from trauma.

All that stuff is the source of what we do for music. And so, for me, that felt like a cave in a lot of ways.

If you’ve ever been to a studio, that’s exactly what it is. It feels like we were working in studios with no windows and 10 days at a time.

So I think that’s where it came from, this idea of, and writing a song about, that’s why we do it and that it’s important to do that, but more of the songs are actually about coming out of this cave-like scenario. So, for me, that’s what putting a record out feels like.

That’s the first track on the record. It feels like, OK, now we can actually enjoy these songs we wrote and stop wrestling with them. It is a very existential self-exploration.

Is there a message or theme connecting the songs on this album?

There is, which is funny because we never do that beforehand. I think that limits some of the writing in a way. So, it’s always been about getting into the emotion you’re in that day, writing the thing that’s the truest to you to that day, and then figuring out why you wrote it later. It can be difficult to connect that way to planned things, almost like you’re teaching a class. We don’t want the music to ever feel like that.

I think I probably hear thankfulness when I listen to the album. Well, actually, there’s a couple of things. One, this band still gets to make music in a relevant way. We have a career in which we can have a lot of freedom, which is incredibly rare. We went through COVID together as a band. We’re in a world right now that, to me, is just hurling towards this inferno. It’s like this division that we have, and AI is coming and all these really heavy, heavy things.

But I feel like the music, at least when I listen to the album, is not weighed down by that. That was a little bit surprising to me. To me, my career in the past with the band has been like, “I’m trying to write the darkest lyric possible inside of a song that’s not so dark.” And I was surprised at how there was a lack of that. And I’m proud of that. It felt like sometimes those statements can be very selfish.

You know, as a writer, it feels like you haven’t worked this problem out, but you’re just kind of judging people for not understanding it or not feeling the way you feel. That sort of condescension is missing from the record in a really great way.

Thankfulness is especially present in the music video for “Everknown,” where you asked fans to share the “humble heroes” in their lives. What inspired you to write that?

You know how in therapy, people talk a lot about the negative voices we hear? Even if you haven’t been in therapy, you know what I’m talking about. Well, I’ve always enjoyed looking back on relationships that have made a big impact on my life — like a coach or a teacher who wasn’t around for very long — and I’ve always been blown away by how many positive voices I’ve had in my life.

It’s surprising where they come from. A lot of times it’s my parents, or sometimes it’s the coach I had for a period of time. And for me, it’s also been very small interactions with people that made these impacts on my life that live on forever.

I think it’s been surprising to me; I don’t know why it would be, but it is a little bit surprising how ready everyone is to tell their stories about the people that have impacted them in their life. It’s shocking; it’s like you can ask almost anyone, and they’ve got an answer right away. They just want to be thankful about that thing.

I feel like it’s cool that the song gives people an opportunity to do that. It’s obviously that so much of our culture right now is just so jacked about fame and all the ridiculous things. But it feels, to me, these people that actually make the biggest difference in our life are kind of humble here. They’re loving on people in very small ways that are making huge impacts. And I want to be more like that.

Were there any other songs you were especially excited to share with your fans?

There were a lot. Honestly, I really do genuinely love this record, which I don’t say every time. I might be proud of it, but I might not love it. There’s a song, “Temporary Tears,” on the record that feels like I could have written it when I first started. You learn a lot about the craft of songwriting and some ways it gets streamlined. It’s like songs become more about the structure than the actual thing. And that song is like that. It’s just a moving song to me. I would play it at my funeral. So I’m excited about that.

“Dreams” is another one I was excited to share with everyone, because it has a crazy deep connection to us. It’s a song I wrote with Judah from Judah and the Lion. He’s been a buddy of mine for a long time, and I’ve watched their careers as they’ve been coming up. He told me a story while we were writing the record that blew me away.

He called me one night and said, “I have this story you probably don’t know.” When he was 16 or 17, he saw us at Cannery Ballroom in Nashville. And he told me, “I literally went home and decided I’m going to make a band.”

That blew me away. I’ve known him for a long time; I didn’t know that. So he asked, “What if we wrote a song about how it’s a dream that I’m getting to go on tour with you?” And I just thought that’s heavy but humbling and awesome and all those things. So, we wrote a song that was thankful to both of our audiences.

That’s something that, like any band, needs a lot of grace. And if they’ve made nine albums, you can get lost along the way. A lot of times, you make tons of mistakes. Both of us have incredibly loyal fan bases that care about the records we make and live their lives to them. The last line in the chorus is, “Fools like us are only here to prove that you make dreams come true.” And it’s that. I can’t believe we’re in this big band. We’re both rock stars. And how did this even happen? It feels ridiculous to us in a lot of ways, but we’re so thankful for it.

Bain performed stripped-down versions of “Sunshine Baby,” “Baby Goes Again,” “Over There,” and “Boyhood.” The singer-songwriter swapped out her typical synth-filled set for a more intimate arrangement with a violin, piano and even a stellar saxophone.

Bain spoke with RELEVANT about using songwriting as therapy and how she uses her music to connect with fans.

“Everyone I know has been heartbroken or had some sort of existential crisis or has suffered depression or, like, hated themselves,” she said. “I think maybe it’s rare that people talk about them in such detail, but it’s not exactly groundbreaking. I think the reason people do connect with my music is because it’s completely honest and natural what I’m talking about. It’s not contrived.”

You can connect with her full performance here:

“I wanted to not necessarily apologize but I wanted to explain where my head’s at and where it’s been for the past week,” he said in a new Instagram video.

On Friday, the rapper released his latest single “J Christ.” In the weeks leading up to it and in the music video itself, Lil Nas X has used Christian imagery as a marketing gimmick. From the cover art, which features him on a cross, to a fake Liberty University acceptance letter, to a video where he “partakes” in communion, the rapper has not held back in making any and every religious reference possible.

To no one’s surprise, Christians didn’t take too kindly to the insincere references. Countless social media users called out the rapper for mocking their beliefs.

Now, Lil Nas X is addressing the backlash by explaining his intentions.

“First of all, when I did the artwork I knew there would be some upset people or whatnot, simply because religion is a very sensitive topic for a lot of people,” he began. “But I also didn’t mean to mock. This wasn’t a ‘f*** you’ to you people, ‘f*** you to the Christians.’ It was not that. It was literally me saying, ‘Oh, I’m back like Jesus,’ that was the whole thing.”