Since first breaking onto the alt-pop scene in 2007, Owl City has built a global following on the strength of his heart-on-sleeve songwriting and endlessly inventive sound. Along with earning a monumental hit with the diamond-certified “Fireflies”—a 2009 release that reached No. 1 in 26 countries—the Minnesota-bred artist otherwise known as Adam Young has made waves with smash singles like the double-platinum “Good Time” feat. Carly Rae Jepsen and brought his exuberant live set to sold-out shows around the world. With total album sales of over three million and single sales surpassing 20 million globally, Owl City has now delivered the highly anticipated new album Coco Moon: a wildly imaginative body of work revealing his deepened devotion to the strange magic of creativity.

Some artists enter the studio determined to make a radical departure from who and what they are, or indulge some musical flavor of the month in a bid to expand the fan base. In either event, those strategies often backfire — though in staying true to his calling, GRAMMY® winner Chris Tomlin thinks not of popularity, but rather the populace his music can touch and encourage.

“I’m not trying to make a different kind of record,” says Tomlin of his latest effort, Love Ran Red “It’s still the same path I started down: writing songs for the church, songs people can sing, songs that connect with people in their heart and move them in a way only songs can. That’s not changed — and yet this collection I feel is the strongest I’ve ever done.”

That’s setting the bar quite high for his tenth studio recording, given that his last effort “Burning Lights” kicked off 2013 as a No. 1 album. It also led to sold-out tour dates, Billboard Music Awards, being named a BMI Songwriter of the Year and receiving the K-LOVE Fan Award for Male Vocalist of the Year and Dove Award for Songwriter of the Year.

Yet Love Ran Red picks up where its predecessor left off. True to its title, it expresses beating-heart faith and channels love’s ceaseless flow into a dozen songs to get the blood pumping and spirits soaring.

To that end, Love Ran Red shows Tomlin reaching and stretching forward, even as he leans back on what’s always worked best. Produced by longtime friend and collaborator Ed Cash (Kari Jobe, Vince Gill, David Crowder* Band, Dave Barnes, Steven Curtis Chapman), the album strikes stirring tones of hope, praise and the peace found only in God’s presence. 

For his fourth live-recorded album, Matt Redman knew he wanted to do something different. The most recent live recordings, GRAMMY award-winning 10,000 Reasons and Billboard chart-topping Your Grace Finds Me, were recorded in Atlanta, but Redman had a different dream for Unbroken Praise, his latest live collection that will release with sixstepsrecords on June 16.

“I had the Abbey Road idea because we’ve done a few little things there in the past,” says Redman. “But to record a whole album there is another level and I wondered if it was perhaps a dream too big!” The historic London recording studio is better known for recording bands like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Cliff Richard, Shirley Bassey, and Queen than it is for hosting nights of worship, but after Redman shared his dream with Louie and Shelley Giglio, label leaders of sixstepsrecords, their team began making phone calls. Soon after, the idea began to take shape.

On recording day, a crowd of 350+ gathered in the Georgian townhouse-turned-studio and worshipped. “That was an amazing moment,” recalls Redman. “Partly because it’s an amazing thing to make a record there anyway, but also to have church in that place. To me, that’s even more special. Those in attendance had learned all of the songs to be recorded beforehand. All of the songs except for one: “Unbroken Praise.” That’s because Redman and longtime co-writer and friend Jonas Myrin had only finished writing it at 11:30 p.m. the night before.

In rare night-before-a-live-recording producer form, Nathan Nockels (10,000 Reasons; Your Grace Find Me), wrote Redman an email that said, “We’ve got your back, so even if at this moment you wanted to bring in a brand new song, that would be fine with us. We’ll make a plan.” That’s the encouragement Redman needed. “I remember thinking to myself, I’m sad I didn’t get to finish that ‘Unbroken Praise’ song. It’s just one of those things. I’ve tried my best and didn’t get there. Then Nathan emailed me.”

Redman and Myrin finished up the song just in time for the live recording. “I could see people pouring out their hearts to God through it,” says Redman, “and very quickly it became the title song.” The phrase “unbroken praise” was taken from a verse in the classic hymn “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee,” referring to the act of glorifying God through praise and acknowledging Him in everything we do.

The Tharps is following