Secret & Whisper

By Brenden Kirch • Oct 9th, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

Secret & Whisper is a perplexing band. This is especially evident on their latest out, Great White Whale. The first thing that is noticeable about the album is the similarities to several other artists including, Coheed & Cambria, Falling Up, and even Fallout Boy at times. However, they twist this sound just enough to keep [...]


The Arts Alive Conference

By Brenden Kirch • Sep 17th, 2008 • Category: Features

Soul-Audio correspondent Brenden Kirch shares his impressions of the conference.


Ten Shekel Shirt

By Brenden Kirch • Aug 23rd, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

Worship-themed music has a longstanding history in the world of Christian music. It’s always been around and it likely always will be. There wasn’t really much problem until the last couple decades, when there was a movement away from thoughtful, theology-based hymns and songs to fluffier songs with poppier choruses. While there’s nothing wrong with [...]


Ben Shive

By Brenden Kirch • Jul 15th, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

The Ill-Tempered Klavier is an odd album to classify. Technically, it is singer/songwriter Ben Shive’s debut album, yet he already has a long history of writing and playing and producing on albums by established acts such as Andrew Peterson, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Bethany Dillon. I suppose calling it his solo debut is sufficient, but [...]


Paper Route

By Brenden Kirch • Jul 8th, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

Paper Route doesn’t seem like a name that would evoke thoughts of a synth-pop/electronica band with a penchant for dramatic and beautiful songs. Nevertheless, Are We All Forgotten is the Nashville-based act’s third effort in four years, during which they have released three EPs. They have a sound that is quite uncommon in Christian music, [...]


Tree63

By Brenden Kirch • Jun 21st, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

Tree63 burst onto the music scene with their self-titled album in 2000 in the midst of a worship craze. Most of the albums coming out at the time sounded like they had been rushed to capitalize on a trend. Yet, somehow, this South African band managed to marry honest, worshipful lyrics with strong musical abilities [...]