All too often we music critics can use the word "pop" in a dismissive way, as in "the new Mumford & Sons album shows the band selling out and writing pop songs." But this is both unfair and inaccurate. Pop, as in a musical genre, can be either well done or hackneyed and poorly written and performed. But the genre itself is just that: a musical form that one may prefer or not prefer. A hamburger might be a humble food compared to, say, gourmet French cuisine, but there are still wonderful hamburger restaurants out there, as well as fast food ones that make the kind of burger that no living person should eat.

The musical duo Apollo LTD unabashedly makes great pop music, and on their third album, Hello Human, they clearly show that having sunny melodies and well-crafted, upbeat hooks need not mean that the songs lack depth or heart. With a nod towards fellow pop craftsman OneRepublic, for KING & COUNTRY and Maroon 5, Hello Human delivers all sorts of soulful moments that both go down easy as a pop song and dig deeper under the surface with a well-crafted lyric and overall heart.

Case in point, first single "Soul Worth Saving" is an earworm of a tune that immediately catches the attention with great harmonies and hooks all around, but dares to really encourage the listener with a timeless truth: "Don't you know / You've got a soul worth saving? (Oh, don't you know, don't you know?) / Don't you know / You're still a heart worth chasin'? (Oh, don't you know?) There's love reaching deeper / Behind the hurt in your eyes / A diamond that can still shine / I hope someday you realize / What Heaven already knows / You've got a soul worth saving, a soul worth saving." With terrific production and an epic feel, "Soul Worth Saving" is the sort of pop song that bursts out of the speakers and would sound great over a film montage.

Hello Human is full of such moments, and the sheer volume of tuneful, encouraging songs is delightful. "Living Proof" serves up some simple-yet-alliterative lyrics over a delicate piano line: "Like a soul set free when Your light broke through / I was all but lost until my heart found You / By Your grace, oh God, I have been made new / Yeah, Your love is life / and I am living proof Your love is life and I am living proof." With a jaunty banjo line and a great beat, "Redemption Song" finds the band offering up a simple song of gratitude: "This is my redemption song My heart cries hallelujah / Who I was is dead and gone / And the old me's looking new, yeah / You filled my soul with melodies / Heaven won't stop singing over me / I'm a child of God and I belong / This is my redemption song"

Apollo LTD members Jordan Philips and Adam Stark have a three-album track record now of writing engaging and encouraging pop songs, and Hello Human finds them in fine form here. With a sound perfect for the warmer months ahead (this is a great soundtrack to a beach day) and a heart to uplift the masses, the men of Apollo have an album of songs to be proud of, but more than that, they have a heart to let everyone know that they have a "soul worth saving." Bravo!

- Review date: 4/18/24, written by Alex Caldwell of Jesusfreakhideout.com