Blog
Album Of The Day: Northern Flicker by Taylor Leonhardt
"When I'm going under / Headfirst in the deep dark well / Be my Stevie Wonder / Sing me to myself." Released just today, this is the third album by acoustic folk-pop singer-songwriter Taylor Leonhardt. I love how Taylor speaks so personally of her fears and doubts and still points back to faith and grace found in God as her centering point in songs like "Hosanna", "When The Scaffolds Fall", and many more. I do love new music and movies too, but I also identify with the song "Old Soul" as well in some respects. "Elegy" seems to memorialize a friend who passed away, and "Sightlines" talks about the comfort in knowing close friends/family are nearby. The songs throughout this album sound so great with an excellent folk/Americana flavor; Taylor's excellent melodies get stuck in my head for days. I find a lot of personal encouragement listening to these very honest, human songs from Taylor Leonhardt, and you may find the same thing too.
Release Year: 2026
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Buy on Bandcamp
Album Of The Day: The Circling Hour by Iona
Released 20 years ago tomorrow (or somewhere around that time), this is the sixth studio album by Celtic progressive rock band Iona. This band has a beautiful mix of traditional Celtic sounds mixed with rock stylings, and though this is not their best album in my opinion, it's still worth a listen. Joanne Hogg's lead vocals are so beautiful, and the band's instrumentation is just as beautiful. it opens with an epic 8-minute track "Empryean Dawn", which starts with just soft vocals but then keeps building into a full-on jam that defines the album. The final coda of the album, "Fragment Of A Fiery Sun", contains some of the same lyrics as the opening track as well. "Wind Off The Lake" is an 11-minute musical exploration and is one of the best on this album. And tracks 8-10 are a trilogy of songs: "Wind, Water & Fire", where the vocals, electric guitars and pipes soar along together in the end after some calmer melodies. It's certainly a musical journey spanning so many styles: from rock, to Celtic, to classical, and many more. This album might be a more rock than some of their previous albums, but I still love it. Iona is one of those bands I wish I had been able to see live, but I may never get that chance.
Release Year: 2006
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Rotten Tomatoes by Colony House
"It's so natural, baby / We make each other go crazy." Released 5 years ago earlier this month, this is the first major EP by rock band Colony House. Recorded and released between their 2020 and 2023 albums, this is 5 songs that span a variety of styles and didn't really fit on their other albums, though I am certainly glad they were released. "O Ya" is the opening track and is mostly just an all-out rock jam, though there are some lyrics yelled in here a bit. It's just a ton of fun and is a highlight at shows as the band just rocks out. It kinda feels like it could be a track from Caleb and Will's new side band, Two Car Garage, but it also is similar to earlier album jams "2:20" and "3:20" (and it's 4 minutes and 20 seconds long). "Lights On", "Natural" and "Motion" are the kind of catchy rock we've come to expect from this band and lyrically speak of love and fear and empowerment. Slowing it down a bit, "Automatic" is a love song to a close friend and includes guest vocals from alternative pop artist Fleurie, their opening act on their fall 2021 tour. It's a quick EP with some solid songs and can serve as an introduction to Colony House.
Release Year: 2021
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: NWxSE by Smalltown Poets
Released 5 years ago today, this is the eighth studio album by rock band Smalltown Poets. Formed about 30 years ago, this band from the Atlanta, Georgia area was on major Christian music labels for their first 10 years or so, but for the last 20 years or so have been releasing music independently from time to time. The band still rocks, and on this album they deliver 10 new songs that are fun, personal and contain some religious concepts. Like many albums released in the year after the COVID-19 pandemic, it definitely is a bit heavier lyrically as the band struggled with abrupt changes to our lives (as we all did). It's maybe a bit slower and there's no immediate stand-out, catchy single like on some of their earlier albums, but that's OK. Overall, it's a good new release from an experienced band that sounds as good as ever.
Release Year: 2021
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Songs In The Key Of Life by Stevie Wonder
"Music is a world within itself / With a language we all understand." Released 50 years ago today, this is the eighteenth studio album by music legend Stevie Wonder. This album is a beast, coming at 105 minutes long on two CDs and streaming and originally released on two LPs with a 7" EP of bonus tracks. I'll admit it, I've been a big fan of music my whole life, but I haven't listened to enough of the classics, and boy am I glad I've given this one a listen a few times in the last few years. I certainly understand why many consider this one of the best albums of all time, as Stevie Wonder is making excellent music throughout this. Mr. Wonder's songs comprise many types of music, including funk, jazz, R&B, classical as well as pop into this Motown Records release. Surprisingly, the song I most recognize is "Pastime Paradise", as it is the basis for Coolio's rap hit "Gangsta's Paradise", but there's so many other good moments here. I'm a fan of a long, epic song, and there's actually 7 tracks here with a runtime of over six minutes. "Confusion" is a great instrumental jazz/funk track too. From this listen, I think my favorites were "Have A Talk With God", "Sir Duke", "Isn't She Lovely", and "Black Man". If you have not given this album a listen or if it's been a few decades (or even more), set aside a bit of time and give it a listen for its 50th anniversary.
Release Year: 1976
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Vice Verses by Switchfoot
"Still lookin' for a home in a world where I belong." Released 15 years ago today, this is the eighth studio album by San Diego-based rock band Switchfoot. I've been following this band for nearly 30 years now, they have many good albums and this is one of them. Songs like "Afterlife", "The Original" and "Dark Horses" bring lots of energy and feature excellent, hard-hitting guitar work from Drew Shirley. Then songs like "Restless" and "Thrive" as well as the title track are slower but have so much lyrical depth. I love "Selling The News" as well because it's a bit unexpected, but also speaks so well to our culture, maybe even more today than when it was recorded. Finally, "Where I Belong" has become Switchfoot's concert closing song for these last 15 years and is an awesome, epic closer, expressing the band's desire to join their fans in a journey to find where we belong in this world. Vice Verses is an excellent album of rock songs that is well worth a listen, whether for the first time or the 100th time.
Release Year: 2011
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: The Cymbal Crashing Clouds by Ben Shive
Released 15 years ago today, this is the second album by musician and producer Ben Shive. Mr. Shive has been known to me as a producer and multi-instrumentalist, working with many types of artists, mostly Christian pop/rock artists. I'm not sure why, but I've never taken the time to check out his two independent solo albums until today. It's definitely on the more experimental end of rock/pop music, but it's really layered, interesting music. Some of it could almost be mistaken for an unreleased later-years Beach Boys track that you had not heard before. I've heard lots of the artists he's worked with rave about his music, and I'm very glad I finally gave it a spin on this album's 15th anniversary. I'll have to give it a few more listens and devote more time to better digesting this album in the coming weeks.
Release Year: 2011
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: In The Company Of Angels by Caedmon's Call
Released 25 years ago today, this is the fifth album by folk-rock band Caedmon's Call. In the previous five years, the band had become one of the top Christian bands thanks to their acoustic-rock full-band sound, a whole decade before Mumford & Sons came on the scene. With three vocalists who switched off lead and a large band making lush instrumentation, they've always been a fun band, and their songwriting was fresh and thought-provoking. On this album, though, they take a bit of a different track. Instead of their normal style of personal folk songs with Christian themes, they are singing more modern worship songs in the band's musical style. The songs here are mostly new to the fans and not just the popular new church standards, though most are not written by band members. There's a few classic hymn texts with new melodies by Sandra McCracken, plus some new songs written by Kemper Crabb and Aaron Senseman and some by the band's Joshua Moore. Oh, and there's a new live version of their hit from the year before, "God Of Wonders", from the City On A Hill special event album. This is definitely not my favorite album from Caedmon's Call (their better stuff was released in the 5 years before this), but it's not bad music either.
Release Year: 2001
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Forever Phase by Paul Meany
Released one year ago today, this is the first solo album by electronic pop/rock artist Paul Meany. The lead vocalist of one of my all-time favorite bands, Mutemath, Paul is an excellent songwriter and musician. You can definitely hear the Mutemath style here, though these songs are certainly all his own as well. For a number of years, Paul has been working with Twenty One Pilots and other artists on production and other things. Like much of the earliest Mutemath songs, this album is pretty chill, keyboard-heavy and a fun vibe. Lyrically, it is clear Paul is still processing the end of Mutemath though also working to move on. This album is not as good as his previous work with Mutemath, but I certainly hope that Paul Meany keeps on making more music, as I expect he will. I definitely want to hear more, and I could probably also give this a few more listens.
Release Year: 2025
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Buy on Bandcamp
Album Of The Day: Get In, I'm Drivin' by Ginny Owens
Released 15 years ago earlier this month, this is the seventh studio album by pop singer Ginny Owens. The album name and cover art is funny to me as I know Ginny Owens is blind and therefore probably does not drive, but that's really not what she's talking about. After four albums with Rocketown Records from 1999 to 2005, Ginny recorded a Christmas album and a hymns album, and then this album of original songs in 2011. I kinda lost track of Ginny Owens for a bunch of years there and only recently picked up this album on CD, and I gotta say I'm glad I circled back to her music; this is the kind of stuff I love from her. The music is mostly piano-based and very poppy, but has a bit of a jazz/blues bent to it. The lyrics are definitely based on her life experiences and talk a lot about her Christian faith. It's clear she wanted to keep making music and worked hard to make this happen, and the lyrics are often about her power to get things done through God's grace and her own determination. I also love the slow, chilled-out cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" that fits well with her own songs here. Unfortunately, this album is not on streaming currently so you might have to find a copy on CD somewhere to give this a listen.
Release Year: 2026
Buy from the artist's store