Christianity Today

Style: Singer-songwriter Americana; compare to Griffin House, Amos Lee, Andrew Bird

Top tracks: "Darkness to Light," "Why'd You Let Me Go Cold," "Coming to the Heart of Me"

Since 2011's breathtaking I Have Not Seen the Wind, Alligood claimed NPR Mountain Stage's heady grand prize, resulting in this ten-song masterpiece. Boasting thicker instrumentation and more decided production than past efforts, Needle gives the subtle singer-songwriter more commercial punch. But for the fine-tuned listener, plenty of Alligood's poetry exists just beneath the surface—the earthy lyricist's pointed verses ("All this fighting' it ain't nothing but a symptom of our sickness / And we still ain't found a cure") coated in such hauntingly sparse melodies they seem nearly sacred. Needle is another lovely folk challenge from Alligood.

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