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Album Of The Day: Odd Soul by Mutemath

Album Art of Mutemath's Odd Soul album - An illustration of a man from the shoulders up, with a grey suit over a white shirt and a grey tie, on a sandy brown background. Where his head would be is a picture of some dark scene with some blurry lights, like it's a picture at night while a vehicle is in motion. In the top right, there's a large drop of water with a golden white color with a dark brown reverse of it right above it, and printed over that is the band's name in simple black text. At the very bottom in a light blue box is the album title in larger text.

Released 15 years ago today, this is the third studio album by alternative rock band Mutemath, one of my all-time favorite groups. Surprisingly, after their guitarist for the first few albums left, the band made their most guitar-heavy album of their career. There's still lots of keyboard and impeccable drums and bass work as well. The lyrics clearly are from people struggling with relationships as well as some frustrations with the Christian culture the band members were brought up in. The band put on some of the best live shows of my life and were such talented musicians and this album certainly was not exactly what I was expecting at first. It's not the most memorable songs from Mutemath for me, but it is still a solid album from them.

Release Year: 2011
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A middle-aged, rotund man is shown from the shoulders up holding a vinyl record and CD of this album in his right hand. He's got short hair and a full beard that's also pretty short, and glasses that are showing some refection from the monitor. He's smiling and has a rack of CDs and some vinyl and some boxes behind him.

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Album Of The Day: The Call Of Home by Held By Trees

Album Art of Held By Trees's The Call Of Home album - A grainy illustration of a cloudy sky with a sun above the clouds. In the foreground there's a bit of a grassy field full of flowers and there's a stairway in the middle up into a doorway in the clouds. Through the doorway can be seen a different sunny landscape where above brightly lit sky is a layer of clouds and then a dark sky with a moon. The colors are mostly deep blue land, light blue clouds, and orange and golden skies with lots of vertical gradients.

Released just yesterday, this is the third album by English post-rock band Held By Trees. About 5-6 years ago, musician David Joseph met some of his heroes, people who played on albums by Talk Talk and Mark Hollis in the '80s and '90s. Those musicians were interested in working with David Joseph on new music and released a few albums and EPs since then under this band. Up until this album, it was mostly just instrumental post-rock jams, fun musical explorations that didn't really often have pop/rock song structures and experimented a lot with sounds. But with The Call Of Home, the band is going in a new direction, at least partially. There's still a few instrumental tracks, but these songs have lyrics and some sound more like a more traditional rock song. David Joseph sings on a good amount of songs, but he also has some guests. Bassist Simone Marie Butler (Primal Scream, Jesus & Mary Chain, Twilight Sad) sings and performs on the heaviest songs this band has ever done, "Not Home Yet" and "It Won't Always Be Like This". American blues artist Eric Bibb also sings on "Needed Time". Also, these lyrics from the band have a lot of religious language, and fans of modern church worship music will recognize some of the lyrical themes as well as some of the guests. Jason Upton sings the title track and it seems like his vocals are more raw and his voice more haggard than I've ever heard from him before. Martin Smith (Delirious?) already did a 3-song EP with Held By Trees, and a version of one of those songs appears here too. And Marc James (Vineyard UK) also appears. I would say this a music album first, not a worship album, and it's primarily for fans of more experimental music. But after a few listens, I'm loving this album and will be listening more. This album is not yet on streaming, though it will be at some point; I think the band likes to sell the album digitally and physically first to raise a bit more money on the album release. But you can listen to it on Bandcamp if you want to sample it.

Release Year: 2026
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Album Of The Day: Northern Flicker by Taylor Leonhardt

Album Art of Taylor Leonhardt's Northern Flicker album - A picture of a field with brown grasses and other small plants, which stretches in rolling hills into the background. In the left background, a hill rises and is covered in in trees towards the top, and in the right background, there are more hills visible much further away. In the foreground is a young womany with long, dark hair, a red top and blue jeans on. She's facing toward the camera but running towards it so that most of her is just a blur of color while the background is well in-focus. Up in the clear, blue-gray sky is printed above the photo three off-white, dashed lines from right to left, a bit lower on the right than the left. In the top left, on the 2nd and 3rd line, it has printed in the same color the album title and below it the artist's name.

"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
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Album Of The Day: The Circling Hour by Iona

Album Art of Iona's The Circling Hour album - A picture of the sky, with clouds towards the bottom and clear at the top. In the top, there's the moon in the top right and Aurora Borealis of various greens, pinks and purples throughout, with the colors filtering through the clouds below. The band's name is printed in red letters towards the top in the middle, with the album title printed in white, smaller lettering just below it.

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
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Album Of The Day: Rotten Tomatoes by Colony House

680'.

"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
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A photo of a middle-aged white man's face smiling slightly painfully into the camera, and next to his face, he's holding the Colony House Rotten Tomatoes 12-inch vinyl in its blue and red paper sleeve. He's got a short beard, is wearing a black shirt and has shelves of CDs behind him.

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Album Of The Day: NWxSE by Smalltown Poets

Album Art of Smalltown Poets's NWxSE album - A color photo of five middle-aged men standing in front of a building with stone walls and tall, thin windows and a roof that goes up and down often. The sky above the building is a golden grey/white, almost the same color as the building. On the left side, a portion of a large, blue circle is on top of the photo, and on the right a similar red partial circle is over that edge of the photo. At the top, in the sky, is printed the album title in large, dark blue text with red and blue shadows on opposite sides, and below that printed in smaller text is the band's name in blue and red.

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
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Album Of The Day: Songs In The Key Of Life by Stevie Wonder

Album Art of Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key Of Life album - A series of 5 circles are inside of each other, each circle with rough edges that seems ripped out of paper, maybe. The interior of the circles is darker than the outer edges, a dark red in the middle and more of a light gold on the outside, until you get to the innermost circles. The innermost, smallest circles is all white and has a drawing or black-and-white photo of a black man with curly hair from the shoulders up and wearing sunglasses. On a bottom part of the circles, printed in a fancy black cursive-style font, is the album title and below it in slightly bigger text, the artist's name.

"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
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Album Of The Day: Vice Verses by Switchfoot

Album Art of Switchfoot's Vice Verses album - On a somewhat golden-hued light background with some ringwear on it, so maybe a worn paper vinyl sleeve, someone took a large sharpie and wrote 'Vice Verses' in all caps, filling up the whole space with huge letters. Where the bottom of the first word meets the top of the 2nd word, that middle area is all black and then cut out of that black is the band name in a a bold, serif font. And below that is a stylized 'S', a word-mark for the band made of two angled blocks, the lower one with a star shape attached to the bottom.

"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
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Album Of The Day: The Cymbal Crashing Clouds by Ben Shive

Album Art of Ben Shive's The Cymbal Crashing Clouds album - An illustration of a city of some sort. The sky is pink for some reason, and on the left is a large tree with no leaves. Underneath the tree is a yellow owl with a white, human face that is as tall as the multi-story buildings the own is standing next to. Across the are to the right of the owl is four buildings, all pained white with not too many windows, and all of which have red roofs but different colored doors. In front of them, stretching across the bottom, is a road which has 6 cars of various colors on it. In front of the tree is a wall with a door in it and a person walking through. Behind the buildings on the right is a green, steep hill and there are four green churches on the hillside. Around the edge of the hill comes a train on a track that stretches out into the sky above the buildings and the track is falling apart. The train is red and the steam from the locomotive is the clouds, where the album title is printed in a script. To the left of that, in the pink sky, is the artist's name in yellow.

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
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Album Of The Day: In The Company Of Angels by Caedmon's Call

Album Art of Caedmon's Call's In The Company Of Angels album - A photo of what looks like a leather cover that is on top of a bunch of loose pages with ragged edges piled on top of each other, photographed from the top down. On the cover, the leather is a light brown and whitened with wear in spots. There's a simple line drawing of a church building with a double door and a cross on top that is in the most worn spot on the left side. To the right of that, it has the band's name printed in a handwriting-style font in black, plus the album title printed below that in smaller, serif font and then 'a call to worship' in another handwriting font below that.

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
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