Hillsong Worship is back with its annual offering, the latest of which is titled Awake. However, this time, they forgo their normal practice of live worship recording and return with a studio album for the first time in over two decades. This is now the second main release since Brooke Ligertwood took over leading the band in 2017, and the direct follow-up to 2018’s fantastic live album, There Is More. The studio recording versus live recording yields a shorter, and more focused tracklist and runtime. This is a welcome change, as many of the biggest criticisms levied against their catalog are the multiplicity of songs stretching beyond the five-minute mark, leaving it laborious to return to regularly...

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Beginning in 2005, The Devil Wears Prada came up in the MySpace age of metalcore, where everyone knew at least one person in a metalcore band. But the guys took their craft to another level and made The Devil Wears Prada into an internationally known band that has released powerhouse albums through Ferret, Rise, and Roadrunner Records. Signing with Solid State at this point may seem more than slightly out of left field, but it is in fact the next step in their career. To further the surprise factor, they’re coming out of the SSR gate strong, but with their softest album to date...

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Following up a successful debut album is one of the most daunting tasks in all of popular art. You only have one album to compare the new material with, and a very short runway with which to satisfy the fans won over with the first batch of material. Thankfully, southern blue collar rocker Zach Williams doesn't seem to feel any pressure on Rescue Story, the follow-up to his massively successful debut, Chain Breaker. That album contained the kind of massively likable and wide-ranging songs that draw fans from across the spectrum (particularly that now-iconic title track), and presents a high bar for William's sophomore album to clear...

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