Jesus Freak Hideout's Songs We've Been Trying to Tell You About (And Others We Haven't) Volume Ten has arrived! In an era where almost any Christian music samplers (including the famous WOW Hits series) has ended distribution, it is exciting that at least one website has decided to continue introducing us to new artists and providing it to us for free. Even if an individual finds very few songs to like on one of these samplers, there is no monetary waste whatsoever.

As far as music choices go, there is much variety to be found here. This year's compilation does a better job of breaking up the monotony by inserting more energetic songs among the slower songs, while at the same time, making the songs flow well together (in most cases). Some of the genres highlighted are rock, folk, hip-hop, worship, pop, punk, and more. Really, the only genre that is criminally unrepresented is metalcore. I personally was disappointed by this omission because a number of independent metalcore artists have released solid music this past year; but JFH's second Rock, Paper, Scissors, Metal compilation to be released this weekend is probably the reason for this exclusion and will well compensate for that genre's absence here.

Some highlights from this compilation are Remedy Drive's rocking opener "Dragons," The Fold's varied "World Gone Mad", Holly Halliwell and Ayiesha Wood's poppy cuts that could very easily be placed on K-LOVE's rotation, Emily Faith's southern style on "When I Met Jesus," Nate Parrish's (of Kutless fame) righteous indignation on "Religion of Relevance," the shockingly fun "Anachronistic Anachronism" by John DeGroff and Friends (probably my favorite song on the compilation), the shockingly gruesome, yet worshipful lyrics of Beach Chapel's "Killer," the perfectly unpolished exclusive from Caleb Lail ("Tomatoes, Pickles, and Kimchi"), and Jason Dunn's familiar voice on another compilation exclusive, "Dopamine." The compilation's closer, Dave Stovall's "God of Change," was also a great way to end the compilation on an inspiring and encouraging note, especially in this day and age where the whole world seems to be going crazy.

Despite some missing elements, this compilation still covers many bases and will either help fans discover new artists of their favorite genres or songs and artists from genres that they don't normally care for. For me, I was introduced to a number of folk songs that I probably wouldn't have discovered otherwise. With 62 free songs, it's hard to go wrong. And while you're at it, you can always download compilations from past years to discover even more great music.

JFH Reader Review: written by Gavin Rodgers, 9/16/21, for Jesusfreakhideout.com