Category Archives: Articles

First Impression Review – Hollyn’s “One-Way Conversations”

Hollyn has been, if you could argue, one of the greatest finds in CCM within the last few years. If you would just pick one, I’d say it’d be her. Only 19, Hollyn has found her way into the hearts and living rooms of many listeners around the world, myself included. Signed to the small yet equally diverse Gottee Records (home to artists such as Finding Favour, Capital Kings and Ryan Stevenson to name a few), Hollyn’s maturity lyrically and stylistically, even vocally beyond her 19 years is as remarkable as it is awe-inspiring, which makes her new album One Way Conversations dropping February 10th digitally (and March 3rd physically) a must have for anyone who loves hip hop, pop, worship, rap, or even just plain something different compared to whatever is out there on the radio right now. Hollyn’s music is a sight to behold, full of hope, encouragement, emotion and raw honesty, something I reckon isn’t as expressed as it should within the confines of Christian radio.

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Message Mondays – Comfortableness: The Enemy of Conversation

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be of service to someone else’s needs. To look beyond what I believe to be what I need at that certain moment, and to see what the other person is longing and yearning for. To lay what I want to happen in my own life down, and to ask the question- so what is going on with you? To earnestly ask, and see what we can do in someone else’s life, without any expectation that they will return the favour, because 99% of the time, we know they probably won’t. Because honestly, if we want to be real, no one really, really likes to ask the other person what is going on with them. Because once that happens, all bets are off. Everything we have planned for the entire day, well kiss that goodbye, because the person you are talking to may just pour their heart out to you, and you will have to listen, whether or not you even want to hear it. You have to genuinely care enough to say, ‘yes, I know what I want in my life today, but I am willing to shelve all that to one side for the sake of the person I am in conversation with’. Are we indeed willing enough to offer a shed of encouragement, from the deepest parts of our hearts (yes, indeed we may have to delve there, but I’m sure it’ll be very much worth it), as we service the needs of whomever we are in connection with, at that moment of the day?

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Worship Wednesdays: Potential WOW Worship 2017/2018 (Predictions)

While it’s a couple of days past Wednesday (does it count if I started writing this post a couple of days ago?), I thought that while we as a site have been predicting lists for WOW Hits albums every few months, that we could instead predict a possible WOW Worship track list for an album in the near/far future. Since WOW Worship Aqua, WOW Worship Purple and WOW Worship Lime released in 2006, 2010 and 2014 respectively; it could be assumed that another WOW Worship album is coming soon. So until that date, let’s predict the possibilities of what could be on the next compilation! Below is my predictions of WOW Worship… Magenta? Black? White? Orange? I guess it’s WOW Worship ___ (insert favourite colour!)

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Dove Award 2017 Nominees (Predictions):

This is a special post. Normally when we post predictions, we have shared what we believe to be a likely list of songs to be included on WOW Hits albums, annual compilations released each year encompassing that particular year’s radio hits. And while we may never really get it all right, predictions can be very fun, especially figuring out which songs are ‘worthy’ of selection throughout the year. Now for this type of post- predictions for the Dove Awards. The Dove Awards are an annual ceremony honouring Christian music, recognising the outstanding achievements of songwriters, producers and songs within a window of time (usually a year). Established in 1969, the Dove Awards encompasses awards presented across a myriad of musical styles- from pop and rock, to worship and rap/hip hop. While my predicted list of nominees don’t show us all the full 40-something categories, I have decided to state my two cents worth on a fair few categories myself. While this list is merely a prediction, I reckon some of my category predictions (rock/contemporary album of the year… or even inspirational movie of the year) are spot on. Feel free to comment below, about which albums/songs etc you think could be nominated for certain categories in the upcoming Dove Awards, hosted in October 2016. Enjoy reading below and happy predicting!

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TOP 10 ___: (30 Songs to Have an Impact in 2017)

Another year, and you know what that means- another batch of songs that are going to be going to radio, songs that are going to be heard by millions of listeners on the radio, that impact into people’s homes throughout the course of the next 12 months. Now to predict which songs to release to radio, and songs that could be poised to have an impact in people’s lives can be a difficult, yet I’m willing to give it a good stab. Mind you, these songs that I list are in no way an indication of what could be on WOW Hits 2018. We all know that WOW Hits has their own formula and they’re not always right. And so, there are 12 months ahead of us, which songs do I reckon will be sung on a regular basis in homes around the world during that time? Read on to find out.

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WOW HITS 2018: WHAT’S YOUR PREDICTION (PART 2)?

Believe it or not, this past year of 2016 is now over. We are now entering into 2017, a full 365 days of a new chapter, a new year in this book called ‘life’- so let’s take each day and live it to the full and to what God wants, right? Anyway… we thought that with the year ticking over, it’s time for another WOW Hits prediction for WOW Hits 2018!

Even though we already made a predicted list a while ago (you can view it here!), there’s plenty of new songs and soon-to-be released songs added to this ever changing list, so without further ado, here’s my stab at WOW Hits 2018, and stay tuned to more predictions later this year! Happy predicting!

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TOP 10 ___: (10 original Christmas songs from 2016)

Welcome to the latest instalment of our most recent blog series Top Tens. Last time, we unveiled 10 Christmas albums from this year that we never reviewed, yet we planned to.

Now, on this new Top Tens post, we will delve into our favourite 10 original Christmas songs from 2016, from artists who released Christmas singles as opposed to Christmas albums. Check out these 10 inspiring holiday themed melodies- which is your favourite?

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TOP 10 ___: (10 2016 CHRISTMAS ALBUMS WE NEVER REVIEWED)

Welcome to the latest instalment of our most recent blog series Top Tens. Last time, we unveiled 30 songs that should have been placed on previous WOW Hits compilations in my opinion.

On this particular Top Tens post however, before the year officially ends, I will delve into 10 Christmas albums from this year that we never reviewed, yet we planned to. While we reviewed Christmas albums from JJ Heller, Newsong, Amy Grant, Matthew West, Anthem Lights, Yancy, Audrey Assad, We Are Messengers, Jason Bare, Lauren Daigle, there were several other reviews that never eventuated, due to time constraints and simply because both Jon and I became busy with work. Which albums did we want to review, has we had ample time? Check out these 10 albums below! Which album were you sad that we didn’t review?

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Is There Anything stealing our joy, and how do we set about reclaiming that for Jesus?

I have a confession to make. Something has been stealing my joy recently. Yep, you heard me, and yep this is not a typo. It’s time to be real, and declare that over the past few weeks and months, I haven’t been as happy or joyful as I would have liked to be.
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Christmas Comes Once A Year, But Do We Have to Act That Way As Well?

Something happens around Christmas time. As the year draws to a close, and December 25th comes rolling around (it actually has rolled around- in fact as I write this, it’s now December 28th…), we, either as Christians or those who observe Christmas not because of the faith aspect but because of the family one; start to become more generous. Have you noticed it? We start shopping and act a little kinder to strangers. We help more at the grocery store. We are more courteous and polite, more emotive and empathetic, more encouraging and reassuring. We say the words ‘merry Christmas’ to our fellow man (do we really mean the words though? But that is reserved for another post entirely!), and during the December period, we aim to at least maybe support one charity, go the church more often, try to detach ourselves from social media, and maybe, just maybe, love our enemies a bit more. But what happens once the year ends and we’re faced with New Year’s Day the next year?

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