It's been a while since I mentioned music that has been grabbing my attention... so here goes:
Firstly, I have to say Hillsong's latest album This Is Our God is fantastic - perhaps one of their strongest ever, and I think they are always pretty strong. There is a whole bunch of killer songs in this collection. We have been doing "Stronger", (a Ben Fielding & Reuben Morgan tune) at church for a while and it is really going off. Other standouts for me are Brooke Fraser's two songs, "Desert Song" and "You'll Come", Reuben Morgan's "This Is Our God" and Ben Fielding's "He Is Lord". "With Everything" (Joel Houston) is a powerful closer which really does finish with the team leaving everything on the field. The DVD is beautiful to watch too. This really is a must have for any Worship Leader.
Chris Tomlin also just released his new project "Hello Love" which I am pretty impressed by too. I have usually needed a few listens to appreciate his music, but this time around I liked it first time up. Ed Cash's production helps of course - the man knows how to give a song that extra something, and he's done it many times on this record. The first song out is "Sing, Sing, Sing" which is totally infectious. We just added this for our congregation today and it went really well. I think the strength of the songs is their simplicity and congregational friendliness (if you do the songs in a key normal boys can sing in!). Some anthems here for sure in "Jesus, Messiah", "Praise the Father, Praise The Son", "God Almighty". I can easily see this becoming Chris's most successful album to date.
Here's one I discovered only a few months ago: Robbie Seay Band - Give Yourself Away. Produced by Tedd T. (Mutemath, Toby mac, Newsboys, David Crowder Band), musically it is punchy and interesting. Robbie has a great voice and writes great songs.
Of course this one goes without saying: Coldplay! "Viva La Vida" is classic the first time you listen to it. I love it! To me they're breaking new ground but still being everything that we love about Coldplay at the same time. I'd be surprised if you haven't got this yet, but if not, get your hands on it. These guys are having a huge impact on the direction of modern popular music (just check under influences on virtually every band's MySpace page!).
Here's another one I love: Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust. This is raw, passionate, joyous, celebratory, vast, moving, magnificent! Plenty of ethereal soundscapes building into whirling, driving, percussive carnivals. My favorite track is the 9 /2 minute Festival - it will lift you!
