Brandon Heath- What If We

Whenever I am preparing to go on a long drive, I always want to take a certain type of music with me. When I’m driving, I mostly like to listen to music that is deep, introspective, and meaningful. That’s why when I go on a trip, I make sure to take plenty of Johnny Cash, some Switchfoot, some MuteMath, and NeedToBreate...and from now on, I take this album: Brandon Heath’s “What If We”.

This album is perfect to listen to all the way through, because it is so stylistically consistent from track to track. You get the sense that Brandon Heath and his buddies sitting around in his living room, jamming. Nothing too crazy, just heartfelt expression in the form of 11 audio tracks. Brandon Health just nails what it means to be a great singer/songwriter on this album.

You know the monster hit “Give Me your Eyes”, but the album goes on, and Brandon gets very personal in some of the tracks. “London” is a song about him being far away from someone he loves, and as he is describing being in London (which, by all accounts, is one of the coolest places in the world), all he can think about is being with this person. In another song, called “When I’m Alone”, Brandon sings about how fragile he really is, and how he only has peace because of God. On the tracks “Sunrise”, and “Fight Another Day”, he explores the inevitable moments where despair seems to creep into our lives.

This is a great album, with very well written songs that are meaningful and easy to listen to. This month (February), 88.3 WAFJ is actually giving it away as our CD of the Month. You can sign up to win it by click on the link at WAFJ.com. Also, on March 14th, you will get a chance to see Brandon Heath perform these songs live, along with Toby Mac. That info is on the WAFJ.com homepage as well.

Fee- Hope Rising

If you have ever seen Fee in a live concert, you already know how special they are. There aren’t many groups who do it quite like Fee. Their ability to engage and interact with the crowd is greater than any other band I have seen.

Groups who are so excellent at connecting with a live audience have a challenge when they set out to create an album in a studio. There are no crowds, no cheering, and no people to interact with, or respond to. (Radio folks are familiar with this situation).

On their latest release, “Hope Rising”, Fee has done an excellent job capturing the energy of their live performances. Part of it has to do with lead singer Steve Fee, who is gifted at connecting with his audience (even when they aren’t there). You can hear the passion, and the energy in his voice on every song. The album is also not over-produced with too many studio effects that make it sound more like it happened in a box than on a stage. In some cases, Steve is even joined by a crowd singing in unison with him…much like you would hear if you were attending a Fee concert.

The band’s four members pour it all out on every song, and you get the sense while listening that they are exhausted after each track. Each and every cut has something unique, and you can tell they all got very special attention to make them just right.

Some of my favorite songs include “Rise and Sing”, a blood pumping rock song where Fee proclaims that “Our God is risen and reigning!!!” “God is Alive” which speaks boldly about the enemies of Christ being broken underneath his feet, and “Everything Falls” where we hear the line that the album was named for “Hope is rising with the Sun”, as Fee sings about the comfort in Jesus we have when (not if) everything falls apart.

The rest of the album is full of wonderful songs that find a way to say to God what we all feel when we worship him. This is an excellent project from Fee, and if you love to rock, and worship, you have to hear this album.