Jon Guerra returns with album number five and his thoughts squarely on the life and teachings of Jesus. Titling the record after the world-changing rabbi left me wondering just what he had in store this time around. What springs to my mind about Jesus after reading the gospels are descriptors like: unassuming, meek, gentle, playful, peaceable, yielded, and long-suffering. Coincidently, those prove apt words to describe the sonic approach Guerra takes to share his musings across these twelve new tunes. This is likely an intentional choice. If you know Jon's work, especially his last two excellent albums, you know what to expect, but to the uninitiated, get ready for an album of chamber pop-edged songs that will slowly work their way into your consciousness...

In a time of artificial intelligence, fake news, deepfake videos and a jarring, general mistrust in the air, it is a truly refreshing thing to hear genuine "folk" music being made. And we're talking about the authentic "you can hear a string break every so often," "actual foot stomping on a wooden floor," "bad notes and all" sort of acoustic folk music that you know was made quickly and without too much fuss.

Northern Ireland's (via Nashville) Rend Collective has been making this sort of music from their beginning nearly twenty years ago. And wrapped up in this genuine ethos of music making is a solid heartbeat to celebrate genuine faith and communicate gospel truths at (often) break-neck tempos. Last fall's FOLK! (Part 1) EP was one of the best collections of songs put out in 2024, and this spring's...

Coming out of the 2000s, an all-too-familiar occurrence among heavy bands associated with the Christian metal/hard rock scene was for once devout groups to slowly fade into the mainstream or to reject affiliation with Christianity altogether. Memphis May Fire are one of the few counter examples, a massively successful metalcore band who, especially from 2014's Unconditional onward, have been openly celebrating the connection between the beliefs of various members and their musical output.

While their subsequent 2016 (This Light I Hold) and 2018 (Broken) releases maintained this personal and spiritual vulnerability and courage, they also tended to be regarded as musical compromises into the realm of radio accessibility at the sake of their original southern influenced metalcore stylings...