If you’ve read any of my other recommendations here on FreshRadar, you probably know by now that I usually like music and movies that strike a balance between popular appeal and artistic originality. I’m not big on cookie-cutter films or redundant pop songs (although any honest person has a few guilty pleasures). Nor do I care for indy films that are artsy simply for the sake of being artsy. Logic would say that most any movie or album produced these days would fall somewhere in between these two extremes; however, I say striking the balance of originality and appeal is harder and rarer than you think.

Despite this tall order, the sextet of musicians collectively known as David Crowder*Band have proven to be more than capable of consistently delivering music that is original, appealing, and inspiring. The band’s lead singer and namesake, David Crowder, studied piano at Baylor University in the early-mid 1990s. While in college, he also took up the guitar, partially because of his affinity for newly popular Dave Matthews. Crowder quickly began writing songs and surrounding himself with other musicians in an effort to connect with fellow college students in the context of meaningful Christian worship. It is true that David Crowder*Band is six Christian musicians and that the band’s identity is strongly rooted in this context of worship. However, to call David Crowder*Band a “Christian band” evokes all the wrong associations. Instead, David Crowder*Band successfully combines acoustic, electric, electronic, bluegrass, and percussive sounds with songwriting that references both popular music and classic liturgical hymns. Suffice it to say they’ve got the balance of originality and appeal down.

After David Crowder produced two albums with a few different musicians, David Crowder*Band released their official debut album, Can You Hear Us?, in 2002. Their 2004 album, Illuminate, contains shades Dave Matthews’ rhythmic acoustic style and also features a collaboration with Zach Lind, the drummer of Jimmy Eat World. Both the lyrical and musical songwriting of Illuminate are fantastic, and a single, unified style runs the course of the whole album. DC*B next released The Lime CD (a live CD) and Sunsets & Sushi (an electronic remix CD), both of which presented songs from Illuminate in a new light. In 2005, the band released A Collision, to significant popular and critical acclaim. A Collision is nothing short of a bold concept album meditating on many issues, chief among them being death (and afterlife). This album was followed by Remedy in 2007, a far more restrained effort.

Last week, David Crowder*Band released their fifth full-length major-label album, titled Church Music. Based on the album’s title, I half-expected it to be a compilation of traditional church hymns arranged and performed in the David Crowder*Band style. Instead, with Church Music, David Crowder*Band offers 16 original tracks and one cover that, as a whole, may well be the band’s most mature and complete work to date. In many ways, Church Music seems to combine the strengths of DC*B’s other albums - the unity of Illuminate, the unpredictability of A Collision, and the familiarity of Remedy - into a whole that also establishes its own identity.

If you’re looking for some fresh music that is creative, approachable, and full of hope, I highly recommend you check out David Crowder*Band’s new album, Church Music.