In our special 7TH ANNUAL WE LOVE CHRISTIAN MUSIC AWARDS editorial series, members of the NRT staff have a back-and-forth discussion about this year's nominees. In Part 2 of our series, NRT News Editor Caitlin Lassiter and NRT Contributor Amanda DeWilde discuss the nominees for Album and EP of the Year categories.
Caitlin: Album of the Year is a big category! Artists work years on an album, and it truly shows the heart of their talent. With all the blood, sweat, and tears they put into these collections of songs, it's so hard to narrow down nominations to just five albums!
Amanda: So many great albums featured this year!
Caitlin: For sure! Let's look at this year's nominees. We've got Burn The Ships by for KING & COUNTRY, Look Up Child by Lauren Daigle, Future by Jordan Feliz, Living Hope by Phil Wickham, and Easy Never Needed You by Sarah Reeves. Let's get right to it—what was your favorite this year?
Amanda: That's a hard one. Like you said, it's so hard to narrow it down! But I think my personal favorite has to be for KING & COUNTRY's Burn the Ships. That album blew me away. I love that they cover a lot of topics that aren't always talked about in Christian music. And as always, their sound is fresh and new while still being inherently them.
Caitlin: I definitely agree! for KING & COUNTRY is going to be a hard one to beat, and it's so deserving of a win. It's incredible to see how much they've grown in their artistry, and all the ways their music has evolved from the beginning. Another artist that's true of is Sarah Reeves. Her album totally surprised me this year, in the best way!
Amanda: I admit I haven't had a chance to listen to the full album, but what I did hear was amazing! I love the message behind "Easy." So powerful.
Caitlin: I'm a huge fan of all of these albums, but Jordan Feliz is super deserving of a win here, in my opinion. He's had a big year and flew past that dreaded "sophomore slump" with ease on this record. His debut album was so strong that I wondered how he'd follow it up, but he nailed it with this project, and I love that we're honoring that with this nomination.
Amanda: I absolutely agree! Jordan's album was phenomenal!
Caitlin: As far as worship records go, Phil Wickham was a big contender this year. "Living Hope" has been one of those game-changer songs for me in 2018, and the whole album follows through with that high-quality, powerful, anthemic element. And we can't forget about Lauren Daigle—what a year she's had! After the mark her debut made on the industry several years back, I know fans were so expectant for this sophomore release, and I think she absolutely nailed it! She truly put her whole heart into this record, and it comes through in every line.
Amanda: Lauren has certainly been busy this year! Not only has she put blood and sweat into this new album, but she's had her work featured in movie soundtracks and appeared on national talk shows to share her love for Jesus! No slowing down for her.
Caitlin: One thing is for sure—whoever wins this category has definitely earned it! Now let's shift gears to talk about EPs. I love that we have a category specifically for EPs, because I think they get overshadowed by full-length records too often. These artists have to be incredibly creative to showcase their talent well in half the space of a full release, and I love that we make space to honor their hard work as well. Let's look at this year's nominees: Branan Murphy's Branan Murphy EP, Jason Gray's The Kipper Gray Sessions, LEDGER's self-titled debut, Tori Kelly's Hiding Place, and Stars Go Dim's Better.
Amanda: There's a lot of great diversity in the EP category! We have a rock album with Ledger, a Gospel meets R&B vibe with Tori Kelly, as well as some solid pop albums.
Caitlin: Absolutely! I love to see diversity in these categories—it shows the massive amount of talent in our industry. I have to be upfront and say that I'm a little bias toward the Jason Gray EP here. He's one of my top artists and my favorite songwriter of all-time. This EP saw him step out of his comfort zone of laid-back singer/songwriter styles and embrace the pop side of his talents alongside his son, Kipper Gray, as the project's producer. How cool!
Amanda: Jason Gray is amazing! My personal favorite in this category is LEDGER. I'm a Skillet fan, so I was really excited to hear that Jen Ledger was releasing her own side project. And I love that her sound is uniquely hers, not a copy and paste of Skillet.
Caitlin: Talk about a breakout year for an artist! Coming from a background like Skillet, I think we all knew this would be quality art we were getting from Jen, but I also think we were all a little surprised at just how much we loved the EP. I'm definitely still rocking out to "Not Dead Yet" myself. A few other new artists that landed on this list are Branan Murphy and Stars Go Dim-- both of which offered incredible projects this year! I love seeing all the new talent rising up, especially when they're making music of this caliber.
Amanda: Stars Go Dim has such a beautiful sound. Their music just washes over you like a refreshing rain.
Caitlin: And that leaves the powerhouse in this category—Tori Kelly. I don't know how anyone can hear her voice and not be absolutely blown away, so it felt like a dream come true to finally get a Gospel project from her this year! She's gonna be hard to beat, for sure.
Amanda: I hadn't heard much of Tori Kelly's work until this year, but now she's one of my favorites! And her team up with Kirk Franklin was amazing. To have two Gospel legends together in one song was definitely a treat.
Caitlin: Sounds like we're gonna have a lot to look forward to in this year's We Love Christian Music Awards! Stay tuned to find out who takes these categories!
NOTE: Voting is now open through Friday, January 25, 2019 at WeLoveAwards.com. Winners will be announced during our Facebook Live broadcast from Visible Music College's Memphis campus on Tuesday, February 26, 2019.
