I know, I know. Article One’s latest album Colors and Sounds released in May, before the Gospel SoundCheck blog started. But when I popped the album into the CD player this week I was once again captivated with the music and I had no choice but to make it my Pick of the Week.
Their sophomore project is pop rock but with a really unique twist. I think the keyboards, strings and electricity of the music remind me of some of my favorite bands from college or something.
Either way, it’s not your typical Christian music but at the same time it’s pleasingly familiar. Musically, it creatively stretches the band beyond their freshman debut. Lyrically, the songs are searching and honest, transparent and probing.
Or, as their press bio states, the band doesn’t “succumb to the myth that intellectual honesty must be dumbed down to appeal to the mass audience.”
Amen to that.
The band takes its name from Article One of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which basically states that all humans are created equally and should therefore be treated equally. That idea was right in line with the guys’ beliefs about God’s love and the call to love our neighbors.
(Trivia note: In 2005, the band won the Kingdom Bound Talent Festival, which gave their career a boost. Their name back then? Appertain Display.)
The first single, “Without You (I’m Not Alright,” is getting airplay now. The band is playing some shows and festivals over the summer, and then they hit the road this fall for a tour with Superchick for the “Rock What You Got” tour.
If you’re tired of the same old, same old Christian music, check out Article One’s Colors and Sounds. For more about the band, visit Article One’s website www.articleonemusic.com.