Tenth Avenue North — 鈥楾he Struggle鈥�
The two-time Dove Award-winning band delivers their much-anticipated third album, following up 2010’s “Light Meets the Dark,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart. Vocalist and songwriter Mike Donehey continues to polish the band’s Christian-pop sound with 12 new tracks about the struggles Christians face in today’s world. It is Donehey’s hope that listeners walk away from the album understanding that we are free to struggle, and we’re also not struggling to be free.
“We are free to struggle/We’re not struggling to be free/Your blood bought and makes us children/So children drop your chains and sing,” sings Donehey on the powerful title track.
During the recording of the new material for the album, the band invited fans all over the country to lend their voices to the process as Tenth Avenue North recorded the new album in cities along the tour route, making “The Struggle” a truly heartfelt and collective effort.
“Worn” is perhaps my favorite track on the album with its hauntingly delicate piano chords aided by Donehey’s tender and passionate vocals as he offers up the promise of rebirth and redemption to the broken and worn out. “Losing” is the first single off the album and is fueled by fans participating in the chorus singing, “Oh, Father won’t you forgive them/They don’t know what they’ve been doing/Oh, Father give me grace to forgive them/Cause I feel like the one losing.” The engaging and fervent songs found on “The Struggle” encourage and inspire listeners by reminding them they are never alone or forgotten.
Tenth Avenue North performs at Geneva College in Beaver Falls on Sept. 27.