The Ache
Label: Centricity Music
Release Date: September 6th 2024 (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- The Ache
- He Does
- Thank You Need You Love You
- Gospel Truth
- Scars
- Highly Favoured (feat. Ryan Ellis)
- Can We Go Home Now
- How To Apologize
- Lucky
- Neverland
- The Other Side Of The End
Initial thoughts: One of the most inspirational, impacting, honest, emotional, and vulnerable artists I’ve heard within the last decade, has to be Brandon Heath. Brandon’s previous singles have all resonated with me, and encouraged me greatly in my walk with Jesus. From songs like “Give Me Your Eyes”, “Leaving Eden”, “Your Love”, “SOS”, and “I’m Not Who I Was”, to “Jesus In Disguise”, “Love Does”, “Whole Heart”, “Got The Love” and “Behold Our God”; Brandon’s hard hitting album Faith Hope Love Repeat was released in 2017, and was a project that I loved from start to finish; while the underwhelming 8 track EP Enough Already seemed to be treading over already-done thematic tracks we’ve seemed to already heard. And now we come to The Ache. It’s an album that released two years ago, and an album that sorta sounds CCM-ish, but still has that ‘Brandon Heath’ flair and mature songwriting. It’s definitely not like Enough Already (it’s resoundingly better!), but nothing really can quite top Faith Hope Love Repeat! Or other albums like What If We, Leaving Eden or Blue Mountain, which I firmly believe are Brandon’s masterpieces!
Reason to listen: If you love Brandon’s CCM-esque style as well as his thoughtful-songwriting style, and every other reason in between.
Reason to buy: Sadly, I wouldn’t buy this album. Listen, that’s another story. But like Enough Already, some of these songs run together and aren’t distinct enough. It’s a tad step up from the previous album but not by much.
Reason to skip: You’re not a fan of CCM. Which is sometimes me at certain times of the day/week/year as sometimes CCM tracks are slightly too cheesy for me!
No. of singles and radio-friendly melodies/fan favourites: 3 (He Does, Gospel Truth, Highly Favoured)
Is the album relevant and relatable in 2026 (2 years out!)? Why/why not?: A lot of these songs are Christian themed pop songs that speak about universal themes, that probably aren’t specific enough for anyone to really relate with on a deep level. Aside from the Father’s Day-themed “Neverland”, every other song could have been sung by any other artist and it’d still have the same impact. Not that The Ache is bad, but it’s just that it didn’t wow me in the way that I know Brandon could have done as per evidence in previous albums. Hence this album… sort of is relatable, but it’s kind of not at the same time, if you know what I mean.
No of guest artists: 1 (Ryan Ellis in “Highly Favoured”)
Does it have heart?: Brandon does have passion, but this album still feels a tad generic and underdone. Many songs are slower and lullaby-ish, and we’re missing that spark, similar to a song like “Got The Love” with Tauren Wells from Faith Hope Love Repeat. That’s not to say that Brandon doesn’t try his hardest. He does. But there are more misses than hits in my honest opinion.
Does it have replay value: Not yet, ask me again in 4-5 years.
Uniqueness?: Not really, just the usual CCM/K-Love sound. It’s not that distinct. And that sucks because we know Brandon can do better (see What If We, Leaving Eden or Blue Mountain, which I firmly believe was his ‘sweet spot’ of albums that are the upper echelon of his discography so far)!
Timeless message for today? A message for the time of release in 2024?: When I read this press release of the album; it astounds me as to why I didn’t find this project more resonating. Maybe it was because I might have not been in the right head space reviewing. I don’t know. Lyrically, Brandon is one of the best in the music industry right now, and a number of songs here prove it in spades. Lyrically, as he speaks about his relationships with his parents and also with his children; undoubtedly there will be timelessness for this album, that’s for sure. But you have to be in the right mindset for this thematic and lyric heavy project; and this album is good maybe in small doses.
Closing thoughts: As Brandon Heath continues to remind us through his storytelling and his strong song writing about various relatable topics, I’ve often found that Brandon’s lyrics are similar in style at times to Andrew Peterson, Jason Gray, and Nichole Nordeman. This has challenged me, as Brandon’s musically varied style is ever evolving; however, in this case, The Ache came and went in an unrecognisable and indistinctive blur, though not of any fault of the lyrics and Brandon’s superb songwriting. An album that should have been longer in number of tracks as well as duration, Brandon’s heart still is in the right place- firmly rooted in Jesus. But this release doesn’t cater to new listeners. Fans of Brandon’s previous material may resonate with this. However, I firmly do not (and that’s more due to the music over the lyrics!), and I’d much rather listen to Brandon’s earlier discography. If you love this release though- have at it. There are worst things to listen to than any Brandon Heath record. But I left wanting more- and I suspect many of you feel the same as me as well.
3 songs to listen to: The Ache, How To Apologize, Neverland
Overall rating: 3.5/5
Yes/no; why/why not?: Yes, to fill up your Brandon Heath collection. If you’re in the mood to listen to weighty lyrics, then yes. But if you prefer party music like OneRepublic, Jonas Brothers or Selena Gomez; then Brandon’s music mightn’t be for you at this point in time.
RIYL: Josh Wilson, Matthew West, Sidewalk Prophets, Big Daddy Weave