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JFH Music Review



Mainstay
Become Who You Are



Artist Info: Discography
Album length: 13 tracks: 44 minutes, 43 seconds
Street Date: September 25, 2007


With Become Who You Are, Mainstay brings forth a whole new side of themselves not previously seen on their 2006 debut, Well Meaning Fiction. Aiming for a distinctively more contemporary sound, Mainstay has crafted a sensitive pop record with an unbending focus on Christ through dark times in our lives.

The charm of Well Meaning Fiction was that vocalist Justin Anderson's soft and oftentimes soaring vocals were uniquely offset with more alternative musical backdrops. The songs had a contemporary feel at times, but producer Aaron Sprinkle brought out the rock elements without over-polishing and the pop without over-glazing. The result was an overall subtlety that worked to the benefit of the band and helped set them apart. However, this did tend to hinder the accessibility of Mainstay's music when it came to radio airplay and the like.

Become Who You Are could be considered almost a rebirthing. Elements of the characteristics the band established in their debut remain, but Mainstay completely sheds the ambiguity of their indie skin to adopt a full-on contemporary pop sound not fully realized previously. The result is mixed, however. Thematically, Become Who You Are is beautifully honest and inviting, but it also doesn't seem necessarily as personal or introspective as before. And it seems, at times, that the music doesn't emote or impact in quite the same way you might expect it to from listening to their previous work. "October Came Late" from Well Meaning Fiction, for example, layered Anderson's pensive and dreamy vocals over a poignantly subtle lamenting melody. The end result is the kind of song that grips the emotions. Few of the tracks on Become Who You Are really reach this point (The fragile and open "Island" comes the closest). But at the same time, Anderson is writing from a much different place in his life this time around. "Stars Are Singing" is a joyful pop/worship track about restoration and thankfulness. Where it thematically would never have fit on their debut, musically it's an almost unique blend of your typical worship formula with a twist of "Mainstay." The spiritual subtilities inherent within the debut album have been replaced with a much more open, unashamed exposition this time around. The title track is a pop/rock anthem for becoming who we're meant to be in Christ, while "Where Your Heart Belongs" serves as a call to the hurting to seek Him at the cross. "Away From You" is an example of Become Who You Are at its very best and is a personal song born out of tragedy, inspired by Anderson's sister-in-law who kept on praising God through the painful loss of a miscarriage. It's also here where Anderson's voice is at its most confident, showcasing a greater deal of range than before.

Become Who You Are is undeniably more daytime pop radio friendly, with a little rock thrown in for good measure, but the honesty and sincerity the guys brought with their debut is what will make this particular pop album stand out from the rest. Fans may or may not accept the band's new direction, but for what they've set out to accomplish with Become Who You Are, Mainstay is holding true, not just to who they feel most comfortably being, but also to who they feel God is calling them to become.

- PReview date: 9/1/07, Review date: 9/23/07, written by John DiBiase



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CD

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. Record Label: BEC Recordings
. Album length: 13 tracks: 44 minutes, 43 seconds
. Street Date: September 25, 2007
. Buy It: Amazon.com

  1. Become Who You Are
  2. Stars Are Singing
  3. Away From You
  4. Where Your Heart Belongs
  5. Am I Keeping You?
  6. Believe
  7. Only One
  8. Island
  9. When You Come Down
  10. Roads
  11. Story
  12. Don't I Look The Same
  13. Hang On
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This Friday, June 27, 2025
ALBUMS
7eventh Time Down We Praise You [BEC]
The Browns 25th Anniversary: Better Days Ahead [StowTown]
Franni Cash Wild Child - EP [Capitol CMG]
Matt Crocker interlude [Anotherland]
Jimmy Fortune Songs of an American Dreamer [Gaither]
Roxanne Grace Road Trip - EP [DREAM]
JJ Hairston & Youthful Praise The Live Reunion: Washington, DC [James Town]
Kutless The Seventh Seal - EP [BEC]
Evvie McKinney It Ain't Over - EP (independent)
Rusty Shipp Capsized Empire (independent)
SEU Worship A Forgiving God [Provident]
The Shimmering Carnelians The Doorway (Version 2.0) (independent)
We Are Messengers A Thousand Times - EP [Curb]

SINGLES
Anchor & Braille Rattlesnake - Single [Equal Vision]
ANTHNY imposter syndrome - Single [Provident]
Blanca Right On Time - Single [Curb]
Landry Cantrell & Elenee sunshine & rainbows - Single [DREAM]
Eddie Clark Never Content - Single [Syntax]
Colony House Atomic - Single [Roon]
Megan Danielle Preachin' To The Choir - Single [Provident]
Drea LP & OnBeatMusic Don't Try Me (DTM) - Single [Syntax]
Joseph Habedank Running to Me - Single [Daywind]
Lonnie Hunter Flow (Like A River) - Single [Uncle G]
Kashh Kade HELP - Single [Syntax]
KB x KEANU Keanu's Song - Single [Provident]
Tasha Layton Singing In the Dark - Single [BEC]
Tasha Cobbs Leonard The Hand That Keeps Holding - Single [Motown Gospel]
Tim Lovelace Celebration of America Medley (feat. Charlie McCoy) - Single [StowTown]
Lecrae Tell No Lie (feat. Jackie Hill Perry) - Single [Reach]
LO Worship The Perfect Love of Jesus - Single [Integrity]
Patrick Mayberry Thank The Lord - Single [Provident]
Michael Monroe John The Baptist (feat. Chris Renzema) - Single [Provident]
Alexander Pappas A Great Awakening / Un Nuevo Despertar - Single [Integrity]
PEABOD Summer in Seattle - Single [RMG Amplify]
Rave Jesus Walk On The Water Remix (From The Chosen) - Single [Provident]
The Rocky Valentines Nat Song - Single [Velvet Blue]
Saints In Exile & Cutright My Dead End (ft. Jeannie Ortega, Luc DiMarzio, Jericko) - Single [Syntax]
Emilie Weiss Take Care (Studio Sessions) - Single [BEC]

DVD
Jimmy Fortune Songs Of An American Dreamer DVD [Gaither]

Next Friday, July 4, 2025
ALBUMS
Chad Cory America [DREAM]
Tenielle Neda The Way Of Love [Wings]

SINGLES
Christian Back Now - Single [DREAM]



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