Style: Indie folk-rock; compare to The 77s, Jeff Tweedy, Death Cab for Cutie
Top tracks: "Midnight Sun," "That Melancholy Ghost," "A Friend So Kind"
Having built legendary careers as songwriters, producers, and music business moguls, The Choir's veteran members understand how to create sellable records. Fortunately for their thoughtful constituency the band's bottom line has never been commercial, allowing space for keen verses like, "Yeah that was me / The self-appointed judge of your own orientation / I studied law at the blind man's school of cruel indoctrination." With stark confrontations satisfactory for Derek Webb diehards but enough conversational bent for Andrew Peterson fans, the Grammy-nominated indie rockers plunge headfirst into lyrical provocations of love, loss and the gospel, issuing smooth musical clarity to contrast the murky exploration of everyday faith in their first release since 2005.
Twenty years ago, Republicans, Democrats, evangelicals, gay activists, and African leaders joined forces to combat AIDS. Will their legacy survive today’s partisanship?