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JFH Indie Review

JFH Indie Music Spotlight Review

David Kushner

David Kushner
The Dichotomy

Album length: 17 tracks: 55 minutes, 33 seconds
Style: Pop / Gothic Pop
Street Date: August 30, 2024
Buy It: Amazon Music



Ready or not, here we go into a new era of music! With fresh faces, the ease of making high-quality songs from a laptop in home studios, and even unorthodox ways of breaking into the industry, this is not your dad's Christian music. David Kushner joins the growing ranks of artists who develop an audience via a social media platform like TikTok before launching a music career in earnest. With viral hits like "Mr. Forgettable" (2022) and "Daylight" (2023), Kushner looks to capitalize on that momentum with his debut album titled, The Dichotomy, in 2024.

The press release describes it as David's personal story of, "overcoming darkness and sin, highlighting his increasing desire to honor Jesus as he moves towards the light." The album's seventeen tracks are split into four sections building from the struggle with lust, jealousy, conflict, and anger to a growing desire for Christ and His healing. I also heard the album was being categorized as "gothic pop," which further piqued my interest. With that intriguing setup, and my limited previous experience with the artist, I began my journey with The Dichotomy.

First things first, I give David high marks for the concept, but this is largely a miss. In a musical landscape where it would be easy to keep pumping out individual songs, he went the album route. As a major album appreciator, I give him full kudos there. However, The Dichotomy is virtually seventeen tracks of the same song with little to no variance musically. "Daylight" was one of the previously released singles and nearly every other album song follows that formula. Kushner starts each tune in his lower (and we are talking low here) register for the verses, utilizing darker piano chords, and then sweeps up into his higher register for the chorus with the same stomp-clap drumbeat. It works with minor nuance for a few tracks, but doesn't hold up across all seventeen songs.

However, there are some standouts, and the tracks that worked do so extremely well, namely "Flesh x Blood," "Humankind," "Universe," "California Nights," and "Daylight." The former song, "Daylight," puts a spin on the thoughts of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7, with Kushner's lyrics, "There's darkness in the distance/I'm begging for forgiveness/But I know I might resist it oh /Oh I love it and I hate it at the same time." This truly is the thesis of the album, I'm just disappointed that the song is buried at the end of the album.

Lyrically, there is far too much time spent on the struggle with sin in the first thirteen of the album's songs. I appreciate a long setup before the turn, but this crossed the line into nearly celebrating and wallowing in temptation. The risk of spending so long in the shadows is that a less patient listener would never make it to the more hopeful final four tracks. Indeed, most modern listeners will likely listen to a playlist with individual songs ripped from the context, missing the larger narrative.

Ultimately, The Dichotomy would have been more effective as a five to seven-song EP. There just is not enough variety for it to hold up to the weight of the seventeen-song concept. It was a mighty swing, but this time it was a miss for me. I'll keep my eye on David Kushner because there is undeniable talent there, but for now, I'll stick with a select few songs for the playlist.

- Review date: 8/28/24, written by Josh Balogh of Jesusfreakhideout.com



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. Record Label: None
. Album length: 17 tracks: 55 minutes, 33 seconds
. Street Date: August 30, 2024
. Buy It: Apple Music
. Buy It: Amazon Music
. Buy It: Amazon (CD)
. Buy It: Amazon (Vinyl)

  1. No High (3:02)
  2. Poison (3:02)
  3. Skin and Bones (3:35)
  4. Hero (3:26)
  5. You and Me (3:01)
  6. Love Is Going To Kill Us (2:56)
  7. Dead Man (4:35)
  8. Flesh x Blood (2:54)
  9. Sweet Oblivion (2:15)
  10. Buried at Sea (3:44)
  11. Humankind (3:03)
  12. Universe (3:28)
  13. Heaven Sees (2:33)
  14. Darkerside (2:38)
  15. California Nights (3:39)
  16. Saving Your Soul (4:29)
  17. Daylight (3:33)

 

 

 

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This Wednesday, October 8, 2025
SINGLES
Amy Jay Back to What's Natural - Single (independent)

This Friday, October 10, 2025
ALBUMS
Citizens m us eum [Anotherland Records]
Ben Fuller Walk Through Fire: Songs From The Smoke [Provident]
Grace Graber Everything You Ever Wanted - EP [Wings]
Faith Worship Arts Fill This House (Deluxe) [DREAM]
Jesus Culture Send The Fire: Live From London [Capitol CMG]
The Kingdom Heirs Fortieth Anniversary [Sonlite]
Tasha Layton Life in Me [BEC]
Myles Maestro Dead End Road - EP [Syntax]
Make Sure Starry May Morning (independent)
Wintley Phipps A Symphonic Tribute to the Songs of Bill & Gloria Gaither [Gaither]
SNT. VINCENT Final Greetings [Syntax]
Razzie Digital Psalms - EP [Syntax]
Matthew West Come Home For Christmas [Provident/Story House]
Josh Wright LEAD (Deluxe) (independent)

SINGLES
Holly Brand One Thing He Wouldn't Do - Single [Integrity]
Chosen Road Daddy Was a Navy Man - Single [Thoroughbred]
Drakeford Writing on the Wall - Single (independent)
EJ Swavv & Jeff Knox Deja Vu - Single [Syntax]
gio. DANCE LIKE DAVID (feat. Swaizy) - Single [Capitol CMG]
Benjamin William Hastings At the heart of it (from Worship Together) - Single [Capitol CMG]
JSP No More (feat. Kevin Young) - Single (independent)
Kelo Memory Lane - Single [Syntax]
MATTHEWS Broken Forever - Single [Curb]
Patrick Mayberry + Katie Torwalt God Is Faithful - Single [Provident]
MAYIA Pass Me Not - Single [Syntax]
Kevi Morse Like You - Single [Syntax]
Jeannie Ortega Decipher - Single [Syntax]
Run51 Song Of My Soul - Single [DREAM]
Lee Vasi A Pesar De Todo - Single [Capitol CMG]
Zane Vickery Name (Live at Greenbriar) - Single (independent)
Vineyard Worship & Dreaming The Impossible Praise You For Eternity - Single [Vineyard]
Jovan Whyte Never Give Up (feat. Dweeno) - Single (independent)

Next Friday, October 17, 2025
ALBUMS
ANTHNY DIARY ENTRY 1 [Provident]
Blanca Full Bloom [Curb]
Chris Blue Every Day Is Christmas [Gaither]
Geoff Moore and The Distance Foundations (Re-Release) [Girder]
Geoff Moore and The Distance A Place To Stand (Re-Release) [Girder]
Nate Parrish Make Me A Mountain (independent)
Psallos The New and Better Way: Hymns of Hebrews (independent)
Anne Wilson Stars [Capitol CMG]

SINGLES
Zane Vickery All Things New - Single (independent)

DVD
Chris Blue Every Day Is Christmas DVD [Gaither]


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