Veteran rock and rollers NEEDTOBREATHE could throw their hat in the ring for the title of "hardest working band" in show business (perhaps competing with the Black Keys and Coldplay). Since their beginning in the mid-aughts, they have put out an album nearly every other year, toured extensively and even found the time and bandwidth for solo albums (the fantastic Wilder Woods albums) and non-profit humanitarian causes. And to the band's credit, their track record of solid albums continues with the dusty, downbeat, and soulful The Long Surrender.

The album begins with the poignant and affecting title track that finds lead singer Bear Rinehart testifying about the tough moments in life against a simple, plucked acoustic guitar and loping melody: "It's a light when it finds you in the bottom of a ship going down / It's the blood on the Bible and the memories chasing you down / It's the kindness of strangers and the patience of love while you heal / It's giving in slowly to the long-winding loss of your will / It's the long surrender / On our knees where Heaven gets found / We will wait with the lost and weary / While You turn the weight of our sorrows into a crown." "The Long Surrender" is a masterful opening thesis statement for the album and a trademark lyrical feast from main lyricist Bear, who has long been one of the finest writers in Christian music and beyond. With a beautiful sadness and a somber musical sweep, this opening track sets up the "long" conversation about the journey of faith and how the end will see "our sorrows" turned "into a crown."

Second track "Say It Now" opens with a hypnotic (if slightly muted) thumping bass line and a chiming guitar part that eases the listener into the song. With more relational lyrics (that could either be about the good Lord or a romantic partner), "I can only stand when your outstretched arms are holding me," the song shuffles along without ever really bursting into chorus, but somehow still reaches the heart as an acknowledgement that we can only travel this journey of life successfully with the help of others.

The Long Surrender curiously never really takes off tempo-wise, as the band seems to have made the choice to keep nearly the entire album low-key and folky without the barn-burning rock and roll that many long-term fans have come to expect. A few tracks, like "Take Me Dancing," do break into a lite country shuffle, but by in large, the album is content to be slow and contemplative, with Bear's terrific voice and lyrics carrying the weight of the songs. This choice of tempo (especially when the album is a generous twelve songs long) can either make the record seem like a daring country-folk masterpiece, or a collection of tuneful B-sides.

If the band had thrown in a few fiery numbers to spice up the tempo here and there, they might have had one of their finest albums to date. But in its current form, The Long Surrender is just a bit, well, long. There are terrific lyrics and melodies to spare, but with a drawn-out pace and a somber tone (and cover artwork) the album feels only half-baked. The ingredients are delicious, but the whole thing needs another half hour in the oven.

- Review date: 3/26/26, written by Tincan Caldwell of Jesusfreakhideout.com