JesusfreakHideout.com: Highlighting 2014 Part One -- Looking Ahead To New Music In The First Half of 2014

For our 8th annual Highlighting feature, we split the year into TWO pieces -- January to June and July to December. Each list contains 15 artists/releases for a total of 30 in total for 2014. So, without further ado, we give you Highlighting First-Half 2014!

6 of 15

#6. Crowder
Neon Steeple

Release Date: May 27, 2014

Neon Steeple marks the return of an industry legend. The Digital Age made a great statement in 2013, so now we're curious to see Crowder's move this year. "I Am" is an affirming introduction to what listeners can expect on the full album, as it hints at the signature experimentalism that made his band famous.
- Roger Gelwicks

Perhaps the biggest mystery of the year is how much different David Crowder's new collective will be from the much-beloved DC*B. They have already given us a taste in the form of a Crowder track on last year's DC*B compilation and their first radio single (which, I regret to say, underwhelms me in its current form), but nothing will be certain until eager hands are all over Neon Steeple. Already pushed back from February to May, and almost a full year after The Digital Age's solid debut, Crowder sure knows how to build anticipation.
- Mark Rice

David Crowder has a knack for naming albums. Neon Steeple sounds like it could be a critique of modern mega-churches or commercialism in Christian Music. First single "I Am" sounds like vintage David Crowder*Band. It will be good to see that beard around again.
- Alex "Tincan" Caldwell

David Crowder built his career on an established and recognizable sound, creating some of the most popular worship songs of the past decade. But times have changed. Now performing solo, he promises more experimentation than ever before with his new album, Neon Steeple. While you can't exactly call an established artist's work a "breakout release," Crowder's debut has the potential to be one of the biggest surprises of the year.
- John "Flip" Choquette

Crowder calls this new solo effort "folktronica." I'm in. Past DC*B albums have featured lyrics that take me weeks to fully unwrap. That's not because they're unnecessarily obtuse, but because they have been so carefully crafted with layers of meaning. I appreciate that attention to detail that is so often lacking in lesser songwriters.
- Mark Geil

Visit our Crowder page for more information about them...