Music you should have

Well, many of you may remember the long-gone Album of the Month column. I don't consider myself to be one of those people who is always ahead of the curve and knows about the latest and greatest, but I am passionate about the music that I do like and love sharing it with others! Music is such a gift!

Last night at our small group we were talking about ways that we connect with God as individuals with unique personalities - via nature, service, intellect, art, tradition, etc. I was just thinking of how so much music - both "christian" and "non-christian" - has been an avenue for that in my life for many years.

So I do have a newest obsession and can't help but blog about it! Typically my style is anything that is acoustic and soul-searching and Jon Foreman's latest EP's are no exception. We started following his solo music a while back when we saw him play (by surprise) at Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. He is best known for being the frontman of Switchfoot, though his solo stuff has a different sound to me. Just to give you a hint of how sweet it was, he played acoustic and was accompanied by a cellist. Yep. Told you he was awesome.


Anyway, he is releasing 4 EP's inspired by each season and 3 of the 4 are currently available on iTunes. And I strongly recommend all 3 (each are 6 songs) as they are all amazing! And I'm also a big fan of the cover art. Well done.

Today I have been especially gripped by one song from the Spring release called "Your Love is Strong". Whew - it's a good one. Here are a couple of favorite lyrics that are simple but have been resonating with me today so strongly:

"Give me the food to live through today."

"Why do I worry? Why do I freak out? God knows what I need. You know what I need."

"Two things you told me. That you are strong and you love me."

I'll spare you long-winded rants about each of these simple statements but what simple and powerful truths in our lives! I know you'll all be shocked by this but I seriously have listened to this song like 20 times today. I'm such a fan of the "repeat" feature! No such thing as too much of a good thing!

So if you have $1 to spend on iTunes, definitely go for Your Love is Strong from Spring.

If you have $4 to spend, my top 4 are:
1) Your Love is Strong - Spring
2) Southbound Train - Fall
3) I am Still Running - Winter
4) Cure for Pain - Fall

If you have $15 to spend, get them all! Totally worth it!

It looks like you can hear all of Spring on Jon's MySpace page so check them out there. Let me know what you think!