Capitol CMG
Release Date: September 15th 2023
Reviewed by: Jonathan Andre
needtobreathe – Caves (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- The Cave
- Everknown
- How Wonderful You Are
- Dreams (feat. JUDAH & The Lion)
- When You Forgive Someone
- Wasting Time (feat. Old Dominion)
- Fall On Me (feat. Carly Pearce)
- Hideaway
- By & By
- Reaching Out To Find You
- Temporary Tears (feat. Foy Vance)
I wrote about needtobreathe in a blog post in 2020- you can continue reading the blog here, but everything that I probably want to say about needtobreathe, in a nutshell, is expounded upon in the blog that I wrote a few years back. And what I wrote back then, and my own assertion that I gained, is still valid and true as of now, that needtobreathe is indeed, as I wrote before, ‘America’s most popular band you’ve never heard of’. Bear, Seth, Josh, and the rest of the guys of the band, have crafted a career of delivering standout songs and hopeful melodies, tracks that have been reminding us all of the complexities of life, and the God above all, who uses life and all it’s happenings, to shape and mould us into the people we know He longs for us to be, both now and into the future.
Since their inception into music more than 15 years ago, needtobreathe have been on a roll. Possibly one of the most unique, ingenious, emotive, poignant, lyrically impressive, and artistic bands to ever be in both Christian and mainstream music since Switchfoot and Skillet (and before then, U2), these men from South Carolina have been able to use their platform in both Christian and mainstream music to deliver heartfelt melodies and songs that stir the soul. With songs like ‘You Are Here’, ‘Something Beautiful’, ‘Slumber’, ‘Keep Your Eyes Open’, ‘Shine On’, ‘Washed by the Water’, ‘Streets of Gold’, ‘Difference Maker’, ‘Multiplied’, ‘Brother’, and more recently ‘HARD LOVE’, ‘TESTIFY’, ‘Forever on Your Side’, ‘Who Am I’, ‘Banks’, ‘I Am Yours’, ‘Carry Me’, ‘I Wanna Remember’ and ‘HAPPINESS’ being some of the standout songs the band have released in their career thus far, Bear Rineheart, Seth Bolt and Josh Lovelace (alongside Joe Stillwell prior to 2014 and Bo Rinehart prior to 2020) have indeed led us all listeners and fans of the band into a place and space where honesty, hope, encouragement, realness and a sense of being yourself, is brought to the fore.
After the highly successful HARDLOVE released in 2016, the band released Forever On Your Side (Niles City Sound Sessions), crafting together a collection of pop-rock melodies with a folk-pop edge, all the while trying to stay relevant musically with contemporaries of the mainstream industry (johnnyswim, Ben Rector, The Civil Wars, Colony House, Echosmith, to name a few)- the standout single ‘Forever on Your Side’, from the four-track EP, was a great standout on that EP, as this band slowly became a force to be reckoned with- in both CCM and mainstream. The band continued to thrive with the album Out of Body in 2020 and Into the Mystery in 2021, as needtobreathe were able to stretch and challenge our own preconceptions on what we are to believe pop-rock music should sound like, and whether or not we believe wholeheartedly a band like needtobreathe can still survive within a sea of pop-rock/radio friendly artists that seem to unveil and portray song and album releases that are very much similar to albums gone by, all for the sake of radio attention! Both Out of Body and Into the Mystery have garnered critical and commercial success, and even though both these two albums were unveiled less than a year apart (Out of Body was released in August 2020 while Into the Mystery was in July 2021); both these albums produced powerful and standout radio friendly tracks for us all to admire- with standout songs like ‘Hang On’, ‘Survival’, ‘Banks’, ‘Who Am I?’, ‘Into the Mystery’, ‘Carry Me’, ‘I Am Yours’ and ‘I Wanna Remember’ (to name a few), Bear and co. delivered, what I firmly believed, to be two of their most accomplished, powerful, poignant and compelling albums to date…that is until now of course.
Maybe I’m just biased, but I truly believe that when it comes to needtobreathe’s case, their best work is indeed their latest work. CAVES, for me, tops Into the Mystery and Out of Body in every which way possible, which is a good thing indeed. Standing at 11 tracks, this is by far some of Bear Rinehart’s greatest work with needtobreathe ever since 2014’s Rivers in the Wasteland; and a must-purchase if you’re a needtobreathe fanatic (indeed, like myself in the past few years), a lover of CCM with an alternative/rock edge, or just a lover of mainstream music that has an inspirational edge (that can totally be seen by people who may not have a religious background).
Standing at 11 tracks, Caves is as good as it gets for the band- there are no skippable tracks, and each song delivers something meaningful to the table, which is called Caves, as we see this album experience to to life as Bear Rinehart, Josh Lovelace, Tyler Burkam, Selt Bolt and Randall Harris create what a southern rock/alternative album should be in 2023. Title track ‘The Cave’ is brought to life in typical band fashion, with rousing string instrument undertones being explored as Bear delivers this theme of perseverance and determination, that dark times often produce clarity, direction, perspective, a sense of gratitude, and a hunger to keep going with a renewed sense of purpose. Maybe each band member had to crawl out of metaphorical caves in order to be where they are today. Whatever the case, Bear’s chorus lyrics are hauntingly emotive and confronting, as we are hopefully challenged to see which metaphorical caves we need to emerge from, and which ones we need to hibernate in a little longer- ‘…tie me up, hold me down in a cage there’s no unlocking, leave a mark big enough that the bones fall out the sockets, but you still see me crawling hands and knees coming out through the mouth of a cave…’ ‘Everknown’ follows along from ‘The Cave’, and is a powerful ode to friendship and mentors, of people you look up to in life and want to exalt and affirm in every way possible. Bear and co. deliver poignant lines of how ‘…you never give in, you know who you are, you are the everknown, you shine on, you shimmer, we’ll follow you on to wherever you go…’, as we see the band encourage us listeners, to see within our own lives as who who we should give gratitude towards and who we should appreciate, for what they’ve contributed in our own lives, or what they do contribute to society in general.
Throughout the rest of the album, needtobreathe have shown us they ought not to be placed within a genre box, nor should they. 4 out of their 11 songs are collaborations (maybe that is a little ‘much’ in a track listing of 11 songs, but that’s neither here nor there), and in each of these four collaborations, we see needtobreathe embark into musical genres that are seemingly vastly different to each other. ‘Dreams’ is a collaboration between Bear and co., and independent band JUDAH & The Lion, as this song is delivered as a rousing declaratory anthem a la Switchfoot or even indie rockers Colony House. The message of the song itself challenges us to go after dreams, to aspire and hope and long for, while also keeping a grounded look at reality and even lamenting at times, at the way of the disparity between what we see right now, and what we long for reality to be as we dream about our futures. God makes dreams come true (though its stated in the song as an elusive ‘you’ instead of our creator), but more often than not, we have to put in the work, instead of just doing nothing and being ok with life, because we ‘have faith that God’ll make dreams come true, even if we aren’t doing anything about it. ‘Wasting Time’ showcases needtobreathe travelling into country music territory as this collaboration with country band Old Dominion presents this melody with a sense of urgency. Bear urges us to make the most of every single moment we are in, as we hopefully value the present, and make the most of the moments presented before us. The chorus especially hits home, asking the question of how many ‘hallelujahs’ will it take for someone to ‘get in line’, implying a sense of desperation and frustration as people aren’t taking action, and not heeding the warnings our mistakes are intending to show us. ‘Fall On Me’ with Carly Pearce is a slow ballad where both Bear and Carly trade vocals and soar on this Jason Ingram co-written song about someone being the comfort, security, and place of refuge of another, in their difficult time of need. While the song can indeed be sung about Christ and how He is the ‘…one that I can call, the safest place to fall for me, You will always be, You will always be…’; the other flipside, is that Bear is singing as a friend to another friend, letting them know that they are there, in their difficult time in need (and that is a plausible meaning of a spiritually ambiguous song- maybe it was intentional?). Track #11 (the last track on Caves) is the last remaining collaboration- between needtobreathe and Irish singer-songwriter Foy Vance for the song ‘Temporary Tears’, a track that longs for the tears in our lives to be temporary, hoping and praying that what we feel from these tears- a sense of loss, emptiness, sorrow and a lack of people in our lives for whatever reason, will be temporary, because in time, God’ll heal these tears and will allow these experiences to shape and mould us into people who can better empathise with others going through similar things.
‘How Wonderful We Are’, ‘When You Forgive Someone’, ‘Hideaway’, ‘By & By’ and ‘Reaching Out To Find You’ are the five other new songs here on Caves that are not needtobreathe collaborations, and while for me, I feel as though the stronger songs on the album are indeed the collaborations, as well as ‘Everknown’ and the title track, these five songs nevertheless present heartfelt themes of hope and encouragement as we see the band deliver one of 2023’s most accomplished and compelling body of work across all genres in this year thus far. ‘How Wonderful You Are’ showcases a deep and meaningful appreciation and love two people have for each other, through the difficulties of life, a beauty and strength can come, through the very act of navigating through life together. The song celebrates relationships that stick it out and challenges us listeners to undertake and do the same. ‘When You Forgive Someone’ comes in at track #5, and, co-written with Jason Ingram (someone who has written a plethora of CCM radio hits over the years), feels the most ‘radio friendly’ out of any track on Caves. The song itself speaks about forgiveness, and the transformative power it can have to rid the shackles of shame that has been burdened upon us for too long. Forgiveness frees us more than it does the other person you’re forgiving, and to forgive is to be liberated and not weighed down by something that can cause bitterness and resentment in our lives if we let it. ‘Hideaway’, a song directly after ‘Fall on Me’, continues on a similar theme compared to the previous track, delivered from a much more ‘friend to friend’ angle, rather than a ‘God to humanity’ which is how ‘Fall on Me’ can be perceived. ‘Hideaway’ challenges us to be the friends to each other that we can be proud of- to be there during someone else’s difficult time in need, that a true friend shows up when the chips are down for the other person. Bear himself offers to be a source of wisdom, comfort, and refuge for…someone he himself knows? A loved one who needs help? Whoever is feeling overwhelmed, ought to come to friends and family without judgement or expectation, and ‘Hideway’ can hopefully challenge us to be that for other people. The album is then rounded out by ‘By and By’ and ‘Reaching Out to Find You’- the former (‘By and By’) is a song about resilience, and a belief that better days are coming ahead, to keep going towards your goal because in the future, pain, sorrow and sadness will indeed be replaced with joy, peace and contentment (when we’re in the sweet ol’ by and by, i.e.: heaven), while the latter explores this notion of taking the first step, taking the high road, and making the first move towards repairing fractured or even broken relationships. ‘Reaching Out to Find You’ champions reconciliation and the importance of long-term relationships, as we are listeners are asked to swallow our fear and pride, but genuine reconciliation and healing comes at the end of us letting go of our staunch-hard defenses, and seeking out people that we are distant from. Reaching out and finding common ground, and more often than not, saying ‘sorry’ or even ‘I forgive you’, can mend relationships more than we think.
This band from South Carolina completely and blew me away in a good way these last few years and listening to their most recent two albums Out of Body and Into the Mystery, solidify this very fact completely. Never once did I love a ‘mainstream’ band as I have right now- well, maybe Switchfoot…yeah, both needtobreathe and Swichfoot are indeed the bands that have inspired me on my own journey into different musical avenues and my very own appreciation of different styles over the years. But having said all that, needtobreathe are still on the end of ‘influential but not popular’, and maybe that’s ok. needtobreathe doesn’t have to be famous for them to reach the people they need to reach in this society. I’ve learnt that the music I listen to isn’t what ‘normal’ people listen to, and I’ve learnt to be different in that. Not many people may see the appeal of this southern-gospel-rock band, nor would they even agree that I ‘advocated’ for this band when I blogged about them a few years back, but that’s ok. Hopefully from reading the blog, as well as reading the reviews of Out of Body, alongside Into the Mystery and this review of Caves, people can at least check out Bear Rinehart and his friends, even if it is only once, just to see how they are and whether they resonate with them or not. And maybe, just maybe, this band can impact like it always does to people who listen, myself included!
3 songs to listen to: Hideaway. Fall On Me, Everknown
Score: 5/5
RIYL: Jon Foreman, Switchfoot, Jillian Edwards, Colony House, Goo Goo Dolls, Lifehouse, The Fray, OneRepublic