long-time readers of this blog know that i used to post with some regularity about happenings within the kevin max solo music world. i’ve been a fan of his work since the 90s, both with dc talk and then with solo projects throughout the following decade. his solo work was truly imaginative and inspired and moved far beyond the confines of the contemporary christian music world that he had been intimately connected with during the 90s.

but…a couple years ago, my interest began to wane when he joined forces with a revamped audio adrenaline as lead singer. the contemporary christian machine was in full effect again and i sorta had to bail.

so, it was with great interest that i had heard rumblings of a break from audio adrenaline and a re-assumption of his solo career. sure enough, yesterday, an official release was issued announcing his departure and an impending solo release, titled broken temples (to be released later this summer).

in a subsequent interview following the release, he stated the reason for his departure.

It was brought to my attention through management that they wanted to move into more of a ‘worship music’ mode and that the band was also to be kind of a house band for the Acquire The Fire events. I felt like I didn’t really fit the worship music leader mode and they agreed.

no surprise there. within nashville christian music circles, going the “worship music” direction is widely thought of as a sorta cheap cash grab. (i could get into details and my thoughts, but that’s for another post…) undoubtedly, i cannot imagine kevin max standing on stage and belting out shout to the lord. so, his depature—given that reason—isn’t a surprise.

speaking about his new album, it sounds like he’s pretty all over the map. he states,

Broken Temples runs the gamut from my brushes with Electronica to Alternative Pop. I love its unconventionality. I love albums that bounce all over the place. I feel that I have succeeded in that. “Infinite” is not like the rest of its parts.

I wrote a song called “Clear” which reminds me of early Simple Minds, but with more of a modern Electronic stance. There is a song called “Light Me Up” which I wrote with John Steingard from Hawk Nelson which is a radio monster. I also wrote a couple songs with Brent Kutzle from One Republic, but my favorite songs are the ones I wrote with Josh Silverburg. There is one called “Just as I Am” that feels like classic A-HA, a rocker titled “Good Kings Highway,” and a reggae jam about Haiti. It is nothing, if not diverse.

all of the above is basically the good news. i’m not necessarily saying there’s bad news, but, well… he released a new single titled, infinite. so, um, the contemporary christian sound that he’s been a part of in his time with audio adrenaline is, um, apparent in the new track.

i’m not saying i don’t like it…but, uh, well, it’s not necessarily the kevin max solo material from say, the early/mid 2000s, that i came to know and love. it might grow on me and in fairness, in the interview selection above, it should be noted that he says, ”Infinite” is not like the rest of the parts—almost as if he’s telling people, “hey, this is for the radio, but there’s other better stuff to come”. we’ll see.

in the meantime, you can check out the new single, infinite for yourself.