Last year I began a Christian music playlist on Spotify to help me get through the trials of the year. My mission has been deliberate to keep myself encouraged through the Word of God. To keep my mind above water so to speak I saturated myself in the praise of others. Like the hunter I am as nominative determinism determines, I waded through the worst and rested on my subjective best. Twelve months on I have not budged. I cannot. Praise and worship has become my therapy, my crutch. Everything else pales in pointless comparison. Being outside the pop mainstream feels like I’ve finally kicked the drugs.

Music for me has always been about the lyrics first and the sounds second. To be honest, good lyrics is as rare as rain in Australia. If I may, I’d love to share with you just a few beautiful bouquets of what I consider the most talented Christian contemporary arrangers of praise.

Doxologically herewith my top ten tenets.

TEN
There have been times my children would come to me with a request they would utter in quiet humbleness. With cast down eyes as if they were pleading without pleading. Putting their piece of treasure on the table in the hope it would not be trampled on. The serene, quiet, almost weeping words of RED ROCKS WORSHIP – LIVING LITURGIES would be the words my soul would whisper to my Maker if He were sitting beside me, dissipating and distancing every obstacle and hostility to join my heart with His. Four humble acoustic tracks is all it would take, ripped from the original master bard himself – King David.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFZtkLp7Uio

NINE
C.S. Lewis once described the trinity as a dance to which the three, Father, Son and Spirit were inviting any and all to join. With a voice and style like Chet Faker the hipster JERVIS CAMPBELL is a deep mumbling newcomer with his first few exceptional tracks. TEACH ME TO DANCE and TESTIFY Jervis is one to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KunXkCB_naE

EIGHT
Somewhere between Harry Connick Jnr. and Michael Buble with his occasional bouncy guitar interstitials is CHRIS AUGUST, mixing practical with spirituality in WORRY, NEVER STOP LOVING YOU and BEYOND THE MYSTERY.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3je_F8pyKxo

SEVEN
In a voice stained with Indian semitones comes a gentle man with a very unique and meditative style, AARON STRUMPEL. Top of the ladder is BEAUTIFUL SAVIOR and SPARK MY HEART that will linger longer with every sip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTFQ9x8797c

SIX
A prolific force the sheer volume of his repertoire in praise of the Creator is worth scouring. TOBY MAC with his SESSIONS is a distilled version of all his hits if you like short cuts, with HORIZON topping my list. “Rise up if you’re tired of the replay.” Turn up the volume.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqsDM92oMkM

FIVE
A hybrid between Beck and Jack White comes KING KALEIDOSCOPE. One of the most creative Christian musicians around, mixing indie rock with hip hop with a sparkle of Disney to produce riddles in praise to God has never sounded this good, with THE BEAUTY BETWEEN as a solid taster of what to expect from an already robust discography.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21MLbmetur0

FOUR
Straight down the middle this particular artist resonates with my own son for being the boy next door. The Ed Sheeran of Christian music with a faint rumbling panic underneath his razor voice carved in so many of his authentic lyrics. Too many to list but be sure to check out ADONAI, GOD BE, SON OF GOD, FOUND, I DON’T WANNA GO and HOW TO BE YOURS. It is refreshing to hear a young man love his Maker like a brother would his sibling. CHRIS RENZEMA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1rJpWPe7c4

THREE
Although a newcomer to the Christian music scene he’s got a long seedy discography that made my ears bleed with his abrasive lyrics. But in this his testimony he concedes that every knee shall eventually bow, including his, before the King of the World. KANYE WEST’S album JESUS IS KING. There is much to like as he offers a fresh and lean perspective on a number of Christian topics that has been long in the making.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKM90u7pf3U

TWO
There is rap and there is rap. What differentiates them are the wasted words of the secular versus the stinging, urgent, crucial words of the praisers. BEAUTIFUL EULOGY’s every word is a powerful thought and resonates as hard as the scripture it sources. SLAIN and WONDERFUL my personal standouts but many more I often listen to on repeat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDPQfRW7xQY

ONE
With a voice that can strain and seep through the pores of concrete, this is one artist I’ve come to love more and more with each play, and unlike all other Christian musicians I play to death, this one I don’t for fear of reaching its audible expiration. So I pace myself with his affectionate music, reserving his voice for special occasions to caresses my soul. A humble giant of a man for his love for Jesus can be felt and touched through the versatility of his music. He treats his art with sacredness for the tender God he praises. JOSH GARRELS. AT MY TABLE is the one that makes me cry. PRAISE HIM is my favorite for its African undertones, PERFECT LOVE an intimate prayer and WHAT LOVE IS THIS cites the unfathomable love of Jesus. But oh there is so much more from a man who bears our Lord’s name.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwDFBwUwZPs

May the Lord bless your life as He has mine.