Hawk Nelson

Sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due. And sometimes you happily eat your words. Both of those apply here. When Hawk Nelson first hit the scene I found them to be very likable young men but never in my wildest dreams did I think they would be around two years after their debut release hit shelves. Building momentum with each new album, this band has truly connected with their fans and the culmination of all things so far is Hawk Nelson Is My Friend, likely the most powerful pop album on tap for this year.

The band go for the gold (perhaps literally) on this album, enlisting producer David Bendeth, best known for his work with wavemakers such as Paramore and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus as well as the king of rock and roll himself (whaddya say to that pretty little momma?!). As if that weren’t enough to bring this album to life, the band co-wrote with a veteran of well-known hitmakers from Richard Marx to Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne) to Matthew Gerard (High School Musical, Hannah Montana) as well as Thousand Foot Krutch’s Trevor McNevan, with whom they have collaborated throughout their entire career. If you are reading this and wondering if that combination might make for a pop album that pleases nearly everyone, well, you’d be right.

As you may have guessed, Hawk Nelson Is My Friend is primarily about the need for, offering of, and sometimes loss of friendship. Delivering the various takes on the art of friendship is a bombastic collection of hook heavy, sugary sweet, upbeat tunes that stick with you long after the album blazes into the sunset. Fist pumping anthems like “You Have What I Need,” “Let’s Dance” and “Friend Like That” exploit the energetic rock you expect to hear from Hawk Nelson, offering just enough edge to maintain legitimacy but productionally dressed to the nines as well. The latter serves as a sort of unofficial flagship for the album and anyone that feels friendless by its end is truly in a bad place. The band border on annoyingly happy here but it’s hard to get mad when the band sounds like they are genuinely extending a hand to the listener.

The surprising centerpieces here are the mid-tempo songs however. “Not the Same,” in particular, is downright amazing. Its soft spoken, dare I say artistry, sounds tremendously heartfelt in much the same way as the rock and roll classic “Waterloo Sunset.” Likewise the blossoming sound of “One Little Miracle” (co-written with Richard Marx) is a mid-tempo anthem of unification, working together for a better world today, not tomorrow or yesterday.

This album is destined to be one of the big hits of 2008 in the CCM market and, hopefully, beyond it. Hawk Nelson pulled in some amazing people to help them hone their talent and it worked brilliantly. The songwriting and production on Hawk Nelson Is My Friend far surpasses anything the band has released before and it certainly raises the bar for both pop punk bands and Christian music. This album is darn near perfect.

Tagged as: David Bendeth, Hawk Nelson, Paramore, Raine Maida, Richard Marx, rock

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