One of my favorite artists, John Mark McMillan, released his new album, Peopled with Dreams, on Valentine's Day. I've had some time to digest it over the past few days, and I'm quite impressed. I appreciate musicians who work on their craft, pushing themselves to explore new sonic and lyrical territories while staying committed to an emotional connection with the listener. This feels more accessible to me than his previous record, Mercury and Lightning, which had an eighties electronic feel to it. John Mark continues some of that instrumentation here, but several songs have a strong R&B vibe thrown into the mix. I listened to a podcast in which he was sharing about the sound of this record and his love for nineties R&B artists, and I admit I was a bit skeptical on if he could pull off this musical cocktail. John Mark's vibe in the past has sounded mostly like white boy folk, rock, and electronic music. I was pleasantly surprised on listening, however. I find him believable and enjoyable throughout the record.
What I love about this record is that it's joyful without being naive. John Mark is no stranger to the problems in our world. He hasn't been afraid to raise awareness and money within the Christian community for sustainability projects over the past few years. He also hasn't shied away from writing on the usual hard, heavy stuff artists have been drawn to for years–you'll hear some of that on this record too. That being said, this sounds like his happiest record thus far. He sounds like someone who has found God's joy and is delighting in it even in the face of the brokenness of our world.
The song that stood out to me the most initially was Unbroken Horses, which is a good ol' pop rock song. I have to say, though, my favorite from the record is Pilgrim. It unlocks a whole host of emotions for me, and has brought tears to my eyes as I've listened in the car and at home. John Mark uses the travel metaphor to talk about the limited time we have in life, bringing focus to enjoying and sharing what is beautiful until we go to be with God. I also heard somewhere that John Mark had his daughter sing on several tracks with him, and I hear her voice in this one. Maybe it's because I'm a dad to a daughter, but inviting your daughter to sing with you in a song about the limited time you have to love each other seems like a magnificent gift to share now and to leave behind after you're gone.
Other great tracks are Juggernaut, Everything New, and The Road, The Rocks, and the Weeds.
Check out the album if you're looking for some good tunes. I highly recommend it.
