Reviewed by Tony Cummings

If you're unfamiliar with Nashville CCM you may not know that this team of pop rockers from North Carolina have long been US Christian radio favourites and 'Unashamed', released in April last year, is their ninth album. Before its release lead singer Jason Roy stated that he wanted to dive deeper into the subject of living the Christian life than on previous releases. I'd say the band have achieved this. "Stronger" deals with the subject of how the hurts and disappointments we all experience are necessary to build strength and maturity while "Ocean Deep" eloquently explains that there is no end to God's unrelenting mercy and forgiveness. The fact that these truths are delivered in catchy pop rock arrangements that are knowingly radio friendly means that this album, like its predecessors, has been embraced by America's Christian radio listening public. Equally predictably though, the hipster reviewers, in their tireless pursuit for cool relevance, couldn't resist putdowns like "prototypical, run-of-the-mail music." The truth is 'Unashamed' is skilfully crafted pop rock and is probably the band's best ever and demonstrates that the band still have plenty of creative fire to take their message to US youth.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.