GRAMMY Award-winning rock band Switchfoot releases interrobang, which has been previewed through the pre-released tracks. Today, alongside the release, the band also drops the music video for “lost ’cause,” which can be viewed below.
The band defines interrobang as “a question mark, an exclamation mark, together.” The 12-track project harks back to Switchfoot’s classic rock motifs while underscoring a definitive departure from the band’s typical fanbase. With production assist from the legendary Tony Berg (Paul McCartney, Phoebe Bridgers, Kimbra), interrobang promises Switchfoot fans old and new a fresh, never-before-seen take on the modern rock mainstays.
They are powerhouse producers, dynamic songwriters, and masterful arrangers who straddle the lines of Gospel, Soul, and R&B. Dawkins & Dawkins are the trendsetting Gospel duo who have an unmistakable sound and style compared to none. It has been ten years since brothers Anson and Eric Dawkins’ last album FROM NOW ON. They have returned to unleash a vault of new music that represents their best creative work and synergetic flow.
Dawkins & Dawkins (D&D) have introduced their 4-volume music series NEVER GETS OLD, which is an epic contribution to their existing impressive catalog. They released Vol 1: LOVE & LIGHT earlier in June, which featured the hit single “In My Feelings”. The duo has now dropped the next installment Vol 2: FAITH & FAVOR.
“The concept behind releasing this multiple volume series is to give fans an abundance of content to enjoy since they have been waiting for 10-years for a new project,” says Legacy Music Groups CEO Jovan Dawkins. “This idea was presented to us by longtime D&D friend DJ Mal-Ski.”
NEVER GETS OLD Vol. 2: FAITH & FAVOR is available now on all digital music outlets and is released by Legacy Music Groups. The album is eight tracks strong and includes “Trust” (feat. Alic Walls) and D&D’s new radio single “Come By Here,” which is impacting Gospel radio stations across the country now.
“Come By Here (Kumbaya) is a very familiar song phrase that dates back many decades,” Anson Dawkins explains. “At its core, Come By Here is meant to be a picture of what it looks like to be vulnerable and upfront about the human condition. We do everything we can to be our best, yet ultimately needing intervention, we call on the divine, our Lord and Savior, to come by and do what only He can do. The music offers a hopeful vibe while the message is a desperate cry for help.”
D&D has the aptitude for creating sweet melodies of reverence or a groove track with a bounce on it. The common thread is the message. People need Love and Light now more than ever in our current times of turbulent global pandemic, civil unrest, and racial tension. And, through Faith and Favor, people need the everlasting confidence that the Lord will Come by Here.
“We want to continue to create music that provokes thought and emotion – music that you can play many years from now and still feel that it is relevant,” says Eric Dawkins.
The music of Dawkins and Dawkins continues to transport people to a better place through reflection and hope. Their genius is music for you to add to your playlist to worship, jam to, or chill to, and bet it never gets old.
After the release of the song “BEYOND ME” which was recorded live at the first edition of Yadah Live In Concert in 2019 the music minister & song writer’s career experienced an upsurge.
After being a consistent blessing to the world with spiritual and Christocentric songs, the music minister drops off her debut album “THE LOVE STORY” at the second edition of her live concert which was held on the 8th of August, 2021.
Just like her already released songs, this album is still aimed towards teaching about God’s love and salvation, edifying the saved and dr awing the lost to the love of the father.
The fifteen track album contain some of the already released songs such as the ever green Beyond Me, Free of Charge, Out of Nothing and Onye Inaputara the other eleven songs are new songs which in no doubt are going to bless lives.
Featured artists on the album includes the legendary Solomon Lange the Yabo crooner, producer cum artist Manus Akpanke and versatile South side Afro singer Prinx Emmanuel the God No Dey Shame Us crooner.
It’s my earnest desire that through this album, you’ll experience the Father’s unconditional love and you’ll be able to tell of His love to others unashamedly.
Ebube Immanuel is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and recording artist. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Ebube Immanuel began her career in music from an early age. She released her first single “I Surrender” and later released “Halleluyah – Jesus is Alive” and “He is Here” in 2019 and 2020 respectively, which brought her to limelight.
Her album, “Unveiled” which was officially released on Friday, the 6th of August 2021 was birth from her personal encounter and experience. Her aim is to propagate the gospel to the ends of the earth through her songs.
Breakout urban inspirational star, Pastor Mike Jr. (PMJ), who is known for hits including “Big” and “I Got It” (currently in Top 20 on R&B charts), has just released his sophomore album, I Got It: Singles Ministry which takes a direct look at relationship issues that both churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike can all identify with.
“I wanted to take a risk with this album…” he says. “There’s a demographic in all of our ministries that goes undervalued and overlooked, and that’s singles. With everybody pursuing ‘relationship goals’ and everybody pursuing the altar, there’s an unsaid narrative that’s being created that ‘to be single is to be a failure…’” He continues, “So I wanted to create some inspirational music that spoke to this demographic letting them know that ‘you’re not alone’ and ‘you can be single and embracing your single season.’” This urban inspirational trap music stands in a category of it’s own and is sure to receive a wide array of critical acclaim.
PMJ was named “New Artist of the Year” in the 2020 Stellar Awards and was named “Artist of the Year” at the 2021 Stellar Awards that aired on BET, and is on the fast track to global visibility. PMJ currently is the winner of 5 total Stellar Awards and is nominated for “Contemporary gospel recorded song of the year” at the 2021 GMA Dove Awards. Aside from the awards, his single “Big” hit over 10 million streams in February 2021 and spent 10 weeks at #1 on Billboard Gospel Airplay. His current leading single, “I Got It” hit #1 on Billboard Gospel Airplay Charts in March 2020 and is currently #18 on Billboard R&B Airplay. Aside from the long standing successes of “Big” and “I Got It”, PMJ released a gospel cover of the Gnarles Barkley hit, “Crazy”, and recreated it as “Amazing” to speak of the “amazing” power of God. He performed it at the Stellar Awards ceremony and released it separately as a single on August 3, 2021 and was Top 3 in sales this week —amazing!
I Got It: Singles Ministry, “Amazing”, “Big”, and “I Got It” are all currently available on all streaming platforms.
With a passion to encourage congregational worship, create resources for churches and draw listeners closer to God, Highlands Worship releases Prayers To The King today (Aug. 13) to digital retail and streaming outlets globally. Along with the 10 songs on the LP, an equal number of beautifully captured, contemplative videos began releasing Aug. 5, with one per week set to release from now through Oct. 8.
CCM Magazine premiered the first video, “Control,” while NewReleaseToday.com premiered “You Can Do All Things” yesterday (Aug. 12). Next week, WorshipLeader.com will feature “Into The Water” followed by Praise.com revealing “You’re Coming (Pray)” Aug. 26 and The Christian Post highlighting “Let It Fall” Sept. 2. GOD TV, Inspiration.org, Breathecast.com and JesusFreakHideout.com are set to premiere additional videos in the coming weeks.
Produced and co-written by Highlands Worship’s Chris Griffin and mixed by Chris Greeley (Bethel Music), Prayers To The King has been meticulously crafted to create a peaceful and worshipful environment to encourage and inspire listeners to connect with God in prayer. Nine of the songs were also co-written by legendary Hosanna! Music songwriter Lynn DeShazo.
Uniquely written and recorded for the Pray First app created by Church of the Highlands, one of the largest churches in America, the new music is being shared with the world on the app at no cost. Churches and individuals are invited to download the app for free on their devices via the Apple App or Google Play stores. To date, Prayers To The King songs in the app have been played over 100,000 times. Plus, the open-source app is built so that if churches wish, they may reconfigure the app specifically for their congregations.
“Our prayer is that the playlist of songs in the app is way more than just music— we hope it helps people encounter God in a real way,” says Griffin.
Prayers To The King and the Pray First app are an extension of Church of the Highlands’ annual 21 Days of Prayer that begins Aug. 8 and invites congregants to pray over their church, communities and nation.
“Pray First is a saying that the people of Church of the Highlands use often to remind us that in every situation we should take our burdens to God,” shares Worship Pastor John Larson, who leads Highlands Worship’s team of 1,000+ members and 70+ full or part-time musicians. “Prayer is our first priority, not our last resort. The Bible says that God sees when each sparrow falls [Matthew 10:29]. So how much more does God love and care for us? Our hope is to pray without ceasing; that every moment of our lives is covered by a faith-filled habit of prayer.”
Fair Trade Services’ Baylor Wilson releases new music with her Joy Comes In The Morning EP. The EP features four tracks, including Wilson’s already released “Jesus Happened” and the title track. You can download/streamJoy Comes In The Morning today.
At 26, Wilson has already lived a lot of life – starring in Season 29 of NBC’s “Survivor,” scoring a country music publishing deal, competitive cheerleading, to name a few – before graduating from college. But, those moments were just a precursor to the life she found when she met Jesus.
Growing up in Dallas, she arrived in Nashville after a chance meeting with Jeff Hanna, lead singer of the legendary rock band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It was Hanna who encouraged the then high school senior to pursue her music dreams. Taking his advice, she moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University where she dove into country music and played her songs at every showcase and venue she could.
She was a college sophomore when she appeared on CBS’s hit show “Survivor,” teaming up with her mom to spend 37 grueling days in Nicaragua, where she ended up finishing in fifth place and her mom made the top three. But it was a year after graduation that she walked into an auto body car shop turned church one Sunday with a friend and her life changed forever.
“I walked in and they were worshipping and singing. It was the first time I felt free to really worship. I felt God’s tangible presence fall over me for the first time. I was weeping and weeping, realizing I didn’t want to live the way I was living anymore. I didn’t want to fill my life with things like partying and drinking and dating the wrong people. I felt a profound peace that night. Later, I found out it was because I met the Prince of Peace.”
Nashville-based singer/songwriter Abby Robertson celebrates a milestone with the release of her debut, self-titled, EP. You can stream/downloadAbby Robertson now. Accompanying mech is available for purchase on her official website.
“Y’all, I could cry honestly. These songs were birthed out of some really character building seasons in my life,” Robertson shares on social media. “Literally, every single one of these songs means so much to me. I am excited to see how God uses these songs for His glory.”
Branan Murphy releases his new EP Better King (DREAM Records & Paravel Records) to all digital retail outlets today. The North Carolina native teamed up with producers Eric Ramey, Justin Amundrud, Kyle Williams, TBabz and David Spencer to create his best work yet. Branan started releasing songs from his EP earlier last year when he debuted his first single “I Will Wait” that saw a Billboard Top 10 Hot AC / CHR single from it.
Since, songs like “Good”, “Bored (feat. Byron Juane)”, and his ever #1 Billboard Hot AC / CHR single “This World Is Not My Home” have broken new ground for the artist. Now, with a new bass driven pop single “Better King” and an Afrobeat remix by TBabz that features Oba Reengy, the EP sets the stage for what’s the come with Murphy. Branan shares his heart behind his new EP.
“To be honest, this EP kind of snuck up on us. I was writing songs in the middle of a pandemic, trying to respond to all that was happening in the world and all that was happening in me, and these songs just feel like they fit together. If anything, I think the times we’ve been living in have been a revealer. I have been able to see what’s true about myself in ways that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I see how much being dependent on God is what I was made for, how much joy there is in that dependence, how control is a mirage, how life is best when I just let Jesus be king instead of myself. This whole EP is me remembering who I am and who he is, and how that allows me to have the most freedom and the most joy in this really crazy and challenging world we find ourselves in right now.” – Branan Murphy
Dreamers releases their new EP, Land Of The Living (DREAM Records). A mixture of pop and worship, the sound of Dreamers is fresh, inviting and hopeful. The group have been dropping singles from their new EP since June when their first song “Count On” was released. Produced by Lawrence Davies and Mark Griffiths, the EP was recorded in a live night of worship at Influencers Church in Adelaide, South Australia.
Worship Leader and Youth Pastor Dan Menelaou shares the story behind the title track. “Land of the Living is based on Psalm 27. David was someone who understood depression, anxiety, rejection, abandonment, and disappointment. But in verse 13 he says, “Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.” This is our prayer for the teenagers in our ministry and for anyone who listens to this EP – that no matter what they are facing they can take courage and know that God is good and His goodness is here during our time on earth, even in the midst of trouble.”
Lakewood Music recently performed their song “Land Of The Living” at their Lakewood Church service in Houston, TX. You can check that out here.
