Christian artist Dave Barnes blends genres on latest album
He's a sweet Southern guy from South Carolina with happy-go-lucky, tongue-in-cheek ballads that scream sunshine, happiness and all the sweetest things of spring.
And there's one track that has pushed the longtime up-and-comer into the green — but you'd never really know it.
Ever heard Blake Shelton's "God Gave Me You," the song that's long held the top spot on the country charts?
It was all Dave.
Dave Barnes, an acoustic rocker who walks the lines of contemporary Christian and country music, was born in the Palmetto State, moving through the South before an ultimate settle in country music's capital, Nashville, Tenn. Although he first got into the business as a songwriter, the artist has been recording his own music since 2004.
Barnes released his fifth full-length album, "Stories to Tell," March 13 with RED and Sony's Razor & Tie.
"Stories to Tell" is one of those albums — it's undeniably catchy in its structure and rhythm. Each song is perfectly tailored for a long career on the pop charts, and they're all lyrically laid-back and fit for Facebook statuses, Twitter feeds and Tumblr reblogs alike.
But there's certainly a marked, pop-heavy change from the old Dave.
Songs like "Crazyboutya" and "Until You" from 2004's "Brother, Bring the Sun," as well as "More than a Man" from 2006's "Chasing Mississippi," have long defined the Southern singer/songwriter as soulfully acoustic, with the most wholesome lyrics of love, life and family.
The songster's latest release sticks to the same subject matter — perfecting Barnes' image as the most positive, innocent and all-around adorable 33-year-old in the whole world — but carries a new tempo.
"White Flag," the opening track, is quite literally a song of forgiveness. With the obvious titled metaphor, Barnes waves his white flag throughout the peppy beg for forgiveness, which sparks only one question: "What could he possibly have done?"
It's one that grows on you, as is much of the album. There's an odd electronic beat that runs through the chorus and bridge breaks, and the oxymoron of the lyrical story and the tempo that falls far away from, say, Adele's notorious heartache hits is borderline too much to handle.
But, despite it all, it reels you in.
And then there's the sequel: The listing's second track, "How Long,"expands on the same plea for forgiveness in an equally upbeat, but still amazingly earnest way. It's a hard chord to strike — a call for love without the bitterness and relatable sulk of any pop-infused star-crossed strife — but, after a few listens, Barnes makes it happen.
Barnes promptly bounces back to a song to hold onto with "Mine to Love," which kicks in with the Christian inspiration with all the PG romance: "There's a life on my shoulders, laughter in the air / You are the answer to all those midnight prayers."
The rounding song titles roll the music through the same back-and-forth of unashamed, all-consuming loving and a plea forgiveness for some obviously make-or-break transgression. (But really, girl, it's Dave Barnes.)
"Heaven Help Me," "Love Will Be Enough for Us" and "Missing You" lay it all on the line.
They take a few listens. It has an appeal to a younger and contemporary Christian audience with its merited positivity, but for the more critical fan of Barnes' original releases, "Stories to Tell" is an acquired taste.