JesusfreakHideout.com: Highlighting 2017 Part One -- Looking Ahead To New Music In The First Half of 2017

For our 11th annual Highlighting feature, we split the year into TWO pieces -- January to June and July to December. Each list contains 10 artists/releases for a total of 20 in total for 2017. So, without further ado, we give you Highlighting First-Half 2017!

4 of 10

#4. Stephen Christian
untitled

Release Date: Early 2017

Anberlin was beloved by so many and their seemingly early departure left a lot of folks saddened. While Stephen has been working on his other project, Anchor & Braille, I'm looking forward to what he has in store for his solo effort. The fact that this is supposed to be a worship release makes it even more intriguing. I can't imagine Stephen is going to go generic for this release and I'm extremely interested to hear his take on worship music.
- Michael Weaver

Truthfully, I'm not sure how this will work; solo worship albums from former frontmen have a mixed history. Anberlin was more deeply entrenched in the mainstream modern rock scene than many other Tooth & Nail bands, but with Stephen starting his post-Anberlin career as a church worship music leader, it's hard to know what kind of result we'll get on BEC Recordings. An open mind might be especially important for this one, though Stephen's unmistakable vocals and proven songwriting talent can only be an advantage for this year's wild card album.
- Roger Gelwicks

The front man of the beloved and dearly departed Anberlin says his new worship (or at least, more spiritually direct) album has influences from Ledd Zeppelin, Coldplay and the TV show Stranger Things. That's an awesome list, and color me intrigued!
- Alex Caldwell

Although Anberlin fans have been able to hear Stephen on side project Anchor & Braille, we have never heard a solo release. The anticipation is high with this one, and it seems doubtful that it will disappoint those who are open to hearing his great voice in a new area of music.
- Wayne Myatt

We've known about Christian's solo worship album for quite some time now, and it's exciting that it's just right around the corner. His Anchor & Braille album last year was a strong contender for my top ten list, and I'm sure this new album will be as well... - Scott Fryberger

Visit our Stephen Christian page for more information about him...