Top 5 Christian Albums of 2022
From grassroots records to otherworldly soundscapes, here are my 5 Favorite Christian Albums of 2022. Sometimes I might refer to these albums as “CCM” which means “Contemporary Christian Music.”
I know CCM isn’t the most appropriate term for describing these records, there are small differences that define CCM, including how it mainly consists of radio-friendly industry products, as opposed to some of the more indie efforts on here.
When I had my original post on Instagram, I mainly used CCM as an umbrella term but also as a euphemism instead of using “Christian” or “Religious.”
Criteria: A record made by a Christian released somewhere in the year 2022, but said record also has to have religious and faith-based themes.
So, albums like… I don’t know, “Conditions of a Punk” by Half Alive or “Halcyon Days” by Chagall Guevara aren’t gonna be on here.
Without further a do, this is my Top 5 Favorite Christian Albums of the Year.
#5: Lovkn — Home Called Heaven
The steadfast acoustic singer songwriter debuts his full-band sound with the nonchalant Home Called Heaven, his first under the Christian Music juggernaut Integrity Music.
Lovkn (pronounced Love-kin) has always been an artist that I find creative; he forms a folksy, playful style with just an acoustic guitar, a laptop, and his voice.
Though his full-band style felt less distinct this time around, in a way, he still has the inventive charm of his lo-fi days through his intrepid songwriting, retaining a resilient spirit in moments of simple devotion and praise.
I find it best when it becomes a lowkey cozy celebration, a sundown encore of indie-folk Psalms.
It’s pretty solid lyrically, there’s something for everyone on here. Though it’s not the most forward-sounding album I’ve heard this year, it does pretty well for the simplicity it has.
Check Out: Home Called Heaven, Greater is He, Mercy Shores, I Can See.
#4: Lecrae — Church Clothes 4
The final installment in his gritty Church Clothes mixtapes is Lecrae at some of his best, detailing further his journey from the deconstruction of his faith.
It’s a heavy effort with few moments of serenity production-wise, but also lyrically, tackling American consumerism, his disillusionment towards American Christian churches, to the rampant systemic racism in America and in Christian culture at that point.
Highlights include the hazy opener CC4, the 4th installment Misconceptions 4, the funky break Good Lord, and the details and open Deconstruction, where Lecrae retells his decade-long story.
Ultimately though, Lecrae heals from the Church hurt, as he entails his eventual restoration in healing, like the heavier counterpart of his cathartic record, 2020’s Restoration.
Check Out: CC4, Misconceptions 4, Good Lord, Take Me Up, Deconstruction
#3: Ronnie Martin — From the Womb of the Morning, The Dew of Your Youth Will Be Yours
Named after an excerpt from Psalms 110:3, Ronnie Martin’s first debut since his 20-year project, Joy Electric, sees a more palatable and deeply poetic synthpop pastiche.
From the Womb of the Morning is a cold and eerie masterpiece that balances its bright intrepid nature with its haunting, downbeat tone, using solid melodies and all kinds of textures to create a pretty cohesive 7 tracks.
Not to mention it’s Shakespearean level of dizzying lyricism, which took me a while to decipher its spiritual undertone, lines such as:
Hope while the frivolous romp in evening gowns
Sing while the floret clusters flutter and down
Wisps of the mourning, braids of London fog
A bird and a woeful voice lament and confound
Check Out: Sing Among the Branches, From the Womb of the Morning, the Dew of Your Youth Will Be Yours, The Daughters of Song Are Brought Low
#2: Kings Kaleidoscope — Baptized Imagination
What… it’s not Number 1?!?
The Seattle Collective at their most vulnerable and undisguised in talking about anxiety attacks and mental health problems,
Kings Kaleidoscope paints troubled images of doubts, discontempt as frontman Chad Gardner wrestles with his faith all throughout.
As with the previous projects by the band, Baptized Imagination is a concept album with pretty immaculate pacing that spans from talking to your demons, feeling like you’re not enough, to moments of solitude and later healing.
However, it’s a project that feels a lot more minimalist and less extravagant than their previous projects, that also tackle faith similarly.
Not to mention that some tracks on their own can feel incomplete, which I’ve explained more in detail in my album review here.
Nonetheless though, their eclectic musicality all throughout, shines in times of terror and beauty very uniquely.
Check Out: Walk Away, DOWN, Look. At. Me, Nostalgia’s Violence, You& I Again, JOY, Past Present Future.
#1: John Van Deusen — (I Am) Origami Pt. 4: Marathon Daze
One of music’s most underrated songwriters, John Van Deusen, concludes his expressive I Am Origami series beautifully with Marathon Daze.
A four-part series of sweet and savory artistic projects that at first glance, doesn’t feel like a lot. My personal favorite in the series being Pt. 2: Every Power Wide Awake, so Marathon Daze, being an amalgamation of every sound we’ve heard from the series so far, sits really well with me.
Mountain Daze is a mellow folk rock record loaded with genuine reflections that resonate to the listener in its naked honesty, with its moving musical nature.
Though another things it’s known for is that it’s an intriguing middle ground that perhaps feels too spiritual to be secular, and too vague to be religious. So yeah, it’s good for starters.
Check Out: Oh Sweetest Name, Uninspired, Blowing Smoke, Marathon Daze, Be Not Far from Here, Help Me Let Go
This is an extended version of my Original Year-End List over on Instagram. Thank you for reading the past year, here’s to a good 2023!
