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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

The Boys of Dungeon Lane – Paul McCartney
****

This is the twentieth solo album by Paul McCartney, and his first since 2020’s McCartney III. The album is named after a road in the Liverpool suburb of Speke. As a boy, McCartney used to wander down Dungeon Lane to look at birds.
The album was produced by Andrew Watt (Rolling Stones) and McCartney. McCartney handled most of the lead and backing vocals along with playing most of the instruments. The album also featured Ringo Star on lead vocals, drums, and tambourine, Andrew Watt on acoustic and electric guitar, synths, and tape loops, Chrissie Hynde and Sharleen Spiteri on background vocals and Mike Davis on trumpet. Orchestration and arrangements were by Ben Foster and Giles Martin.
The album offers varied musical styles from love song ballads to rockers. About half of the songs has McCartney nostalgically looking back on his life.
Overall, the album is a wonderful collection of songs about hope, love, living for now and remembering the past. It’s a sonic treat that sounds better with each repeated listening, and my favorite album of 2026 thus far.

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  • More of this review and a review of In Christ Alone – Sing! Hymnal at the Piano
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  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Running to a Runaway – Phil Wickham

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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS


Sing! From Generation to Generation (Live at the Getty Music Worship Conference) – Keith & Kristyn Getty and Friends
****

A live album is released after each of the Sing! Getty Music Worship Conferences held in Nashville. The album from the 2025 conference, which had a theme of From Generation to Generation. Artists included on the album are Keith and Kristyn Getty, CityAlight, Fernando Ortega, Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, Cochren & Co, Sandra McCracken, Dwan Hill and the late Jubilant Sykes.
Sing! From Generation to Generation holds many of the finest musical moments from the 2025 Sing! Conference.  Thousands of voices, young and old, were gathered from 27 countries celebrating God’s faithfulness across 20 centuries and teaching the coming generations through song.

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  • More of this review and a review of Long, Long Road by Ringo Starr
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  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Absolution by Switchfoot

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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

For Your Glory – Trip Lee and BRAG Worship
*** ½

The latest from Trip Lee (pastor, author, rapper) is For Your Glory, comes from his  new collective BRAG Worship.  I’ve long enjoyed Lee’s music, teaching and books. This worship project is different from anything you’ve heard from him, and it’s very good.
The eight song EP is comprised of easy-going R&B sounds, with memorable choruses and samples a few classic hymns. Lee co-wrote and co-produced each song.

Here are a few brief comments about each song:

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  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Jesus Paid It All – Tommee Profitt and CeCe Winans

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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS


The Commons Chapel – CXMMXNS
*** ½

Worship collective CXMMXNS (Commons) was formed by Grammy Award and Dove Award-winning songwriters Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan, two of the most influential writers in modern worship music. From their pens have come some of the most widely sung anthems including “Goodness of God,” “Who You Say I Am,” “What a Beautiful Name,” “Cornerstone,” and “Mighty to Save” – songs sung by tens of millions of believers every week across the world. Birthed in Sydney, Australia, CXMMXNS is passionately committed to gathering worshippers worldwide and serving local churches with songs that everyone can sing.

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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

Hope – Petra
***

Petra was one of my favorite bands when I was a new believer in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and I continued to follow their music through 2003’s Jekyll and Hyde. Hope is their first new album of all new material since Jekyll and Hyde. It is a mix of rock, mid-tempo songs, and ballads. The album sounds like classic Petra, with memorable hooks, strong guitar work from Bob Hartman, keys and synths from John Lawry, and powerful vocals from John Schlitt. The lyrics are scripturally based, as you can expect from Petra. Bob Hartman wrote, or co-wrote all of the songs, and Petra produced the album.

I really enjoyed this new release. It’s great to have a new Petra album.

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 Song of the Week Lyrics ~ “O Church, Come Lift Your Eyes” by Jordan Kauflin and CityAlight Continue reading →


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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

All I Have is Christ: The Hymns of Jordan Kauflin
****

Jordan Kauflin is a worship pastor, and writes songs for churches to sing, primarily with Getty Music and Sovereign Grace Music. This album of ten songs, each of which Kauflin wrote, or co-write, was recorded at the 2025 Sing! Getty Worship Conference in Nashville, and was produced by Nathan Nockels. The album includes a number of special guests, including Laura Story, CityAlight, Kristyn Getty, Bob Kauflin, and Bryan Fowler. The album includes four new hymns and six favorites that are sung by churches around the world.
In my reviews I usually list my favorite songs on the album. I’m not going to do that this time as all of the songs are excellent – well written and performed.
Below are a few comments about each of the ten songs:

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  • More of this review and a review of Live from the Ryman by Wilder Woods
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  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ “Say So” by Jordan Kauflin and Bryan Fowler

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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

Far Country – Ellie Holcomb
*** ½ 

Ellie Holcomb returns with her fourth full-length studio album Far Country, a solid follow-up to Canyon, one of my favorite albums of 2021. The new album features eleven new songs born from a season of profound grief and spiritual exploration. Holcomb co-wrote all of the songs. The album was produced and engineered by Cason Cooley and executive produced by Holcomb’s father Brown Bannister, and Samantha Steele.
The songs feature Holcomb’s strong and expressive vocals. The album contains themes of being made for a different place, there having to be more than this, light, love, hope, and the goodness and mercy for the Lord.

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  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ It Really Is Amazing Grace by Phil Wickham and Crowder

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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

Andrew Peterson Presents: A Liturgy, a Legacy & The Songs of Rich Mullins – Various Artists
****

On September 24, 2017 a number of artists led by Andrew Peterson and Ben Shive gathered at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Rich Mullins. They performed a note-for-note concert of Mullins’  best album, A Liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band, complete with strings, special guests, and an appreciative audience.
Peterson and friends followed a concert format that he has used over the years on his Behold The Lamb of God Christmas tour. The first half of the concert had each of the guest artists sing a Mullins song of their choice, with Peterson singing a few of his own choices in along the way.
The first half set list:

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  • More of this review and a review of Somebody Tried to Sell Me a Bridge by Van Morrison
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  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Taste and See (The Love of Christ) by Bryan Fowler and Matt Maher

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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

Music Review:
50 Years from Home: I Gave You Everything I Had – Vince Gill
****

Vince Gill is celebrating five decades in the music industry, which includes twenty-two Grammy awards, including time with Pure Prairie League, and the Eagles since 2017. Over the next year, he will release a series of EPs called 50 Years from Home. The first of the EPs is I Gave You Everything I Had.
The new EP includes six new songs, which Gill has described as “very personal”, as well as a newly recorded version of “Go Rest High On That Mountain”, which features a new third verse. All songs were written by Gill, who also produced the project.
The songs feature Paul Franklin on pedal steel, Gill on guitar along with Tom Bukovac, Jedd Hughes and Jack Schneider, keyboardist John Jarvis, multi-instrumentalists Stuart Duncan and Jim “Moose” Brown, banjo player Russ Carson, with Gill’s wife of 25 years, Amy Grant, and daughters Jenny Gill and Corrina Gill singing background vocals. The songs were recorded at Gill’s The House studio.

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– Song of the Week Lyrics~ Stand Firm by CityAlight and CXMMXNS Continue reading →


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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

Life & Breath – Matt Redman

Life & Breath – Matt Redman
****

After releasing twenty albums, Matt Redman has done something he hadn’t previously done. Life & Breath, Redman’s latest album, was recorded as a “live studio” album in Nashville, allowing him to achieve the precision of a studio while still capturing the energy and breath of a live worship setting. The album was produced by Steve Marcia, includes nine new songs, and has collaborations with worship leaders Joe L Barnes, CalledOut Music, Charity Gayle, and the Lipscomb University Gospel Choir.
I’ve long enjoyed Redman’s music, and Life & Breath is a fine addition to his catalog. It will surely be on my list of favorite albums for 2025.
Redman co-wrote each of the songs. Here are a few brief comments and a key lyric from each of the new songs:

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  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Rise With the Sun – CityAlight

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