By Andy Argyrakis

FRIENDS ON FERVENT

Singer/songwriter Francesca Battistelli graduates from indie life to Fervent Records for her label debut, My Paper Heart. Expect a sophisticated merging of her own introspective songwriting with the sounds of John Mayer, Sara Bareilles and Nichole Nordeman, but with a decidedly mainstream friendly slant (following her time in secular pop and professional theatre). The same label also drops the latest acoustic pop/rock brew from Big Daddy Weave in the form of What Life Would Be Like. Expect the group’s signature coffeehouse rhythms and radio-ready appeal, wrapped around front man Mike Weaver’s larger than life personality.

ALTERNATIVE OUTPOURINGS AND A DASH OF SMOOTH SOUL

Though currently on the “Vans Warped Tour,” alternative rockers The Classic Crime had plenty of time to craft its latest Tooth & Nail release The Silver Cord, while its BEC Recordings brethren Falling Up also drop a career retrospective called Discover The Trees Again: The Best Of. In soul contexts, Nicole C. Mullen leads the pack of prominence with A Dream To Believe In, Vol. 2 (Word), a conceptual follow-up to 2007’s deeply personal Sharecropper's Seed, Vol. 1 (Word).

U2 REMASTERED

The earliest U2 albums are amongst the group’s most spiritual, which may have been mainstream releases, but actually earned considerable coverage in the print edition of CCM Magazine. Fans of that era can rejoice over the fact that Bono and the boys’ first three CDs were just remastered and are now available as single disc standard editions and double disc sets stacked with b-sides. Bono & Co.’s 1980 debut, Boy, is best known for the single “I Will Follow,” along with album cuts like “The Electric Co.” and “Shadows and Tall Trees.” The next year’s October showcased even more of the band’s spiritual side thanks to tracks like “Gloria,” “Rejoice” and “Stranger in a Strange Land,” while 1983’s War was especially overt with “40” (inspired by the Psalm of the same name).

For a complete list of new and upcoming albums, check out our new releases page.