Ask anyone who Jars of Clay is and you’ll likely hear something to the effect of, “Aren’t they that Christian band with the acoustic guitars that sang that song?”

In 1995, Jars of Clay simultaneously burst onto both contemporary Christian and mainstream radio with the single Flood from their self-titled debut album. Flood would quickly reach number one on both charts and mark the beginning of a career in which the band has sold over 6 million albums and won 3 Grammys. However, the sudden success of this first single and album has actually had the negative effect of painting a rather one-dimensional picture of the band in many people’s minds. In fact, their much-anticipated sophomore album, Much Afraid, was considered a disappointment by many people at the time because “it didn’t sound like their first CD.”

Thankfully, Jars of Clay has not let such inside-the-box expectations shape their musical output. In the almost 15 years since their debut, the band has continued to release albums of consistent musical and lyrical relevance. Having produced 7 albums of original content and 4 other compilation albums, Jars of Clay sonically shapes their releases to fit the mood and color of the songs comprising them. Their latest offering, The Long Fall Back to Earth, is no exception.

In 2007, Jars of Clay released Good Monsters in which they reinvented their sound yet again in the form of a pop-rock manifesto that “tackled subjects as diverse and demanding as social responsibility, spiritual doubt and the duality of the human heart.” The band follows up Good Monsters with the brighter, shimmering The Long Fall Back to Earth which, according to the band, picks up lyrically where Monsters left off. Keyboardist Charlie Lowell states, “Good Monsters was in many ways a view of humanity from 40,000 feet above the Earth. During that season, we were learning about what it means to live in community, rather than in isolation.” And lead singer Dan Haseltine expands, “What inspired the theme of the new record [is] the idea of people made raw by their relationships, baring their souls to one another, being broken and being rebuilt.”

The album opens with the ethereal, instrumental track The Long Fall which lands somewhat abruptly in the first full-length track, Weapons. Weapons continues reverberating guitar riffs through its first verse before launching into a driving chorus that brings to mind several songs by The Killers. Jars pulls the tempo back a bit with the third song, Two Hands, before launching into Heaven with a crescendo-ing intro of synthesizers and guitar. This is one of the more aggressive songs on the album, exploring the notion that the Heaven we long so deeply for is actually inside us. The album continues its alternating dynamic by again pulling back for the more modest track, Closer. Then, the album switches gears again, further reducing things in the surprisingly engaging Safe to Land. This stripped-down blend of acoustic guitar, harmonized vocals, and synthesized percussion is a welcome break from the previously established pace of the record. Safe to Land builds and leads into a very similar followup track Headphones. This song is actually my least favorite on the album, likely due to its proximity to the similar but superior previous track. The band again shifts somewhat dramatically back to a chunky-synth-and-guitar-riff laden intro for the eighth track, Don’t Stop.

With the exception of the somewhat predictable twelfth track There Might Be a Light, the final six songs actually represent the strongest continuous flow of music on the entire album. The synths of Don’t Stop are followed by Boys (Lesson One) which returns to the more reduced feel first offered in Safe to Land. Sampled and cut-up acoustic guitar riffs coupled with organic melodies that sound an awful lot like a hammered dulcimer kick off the tenth track, Hero. This track’s catchy chorus has already been featured on promos and soundtracks for at least one TV show. Scenic Route, There Might Be a Light, Forgive Me, and Heart close out the album deftly, continuing the practice of alternating two or three tempos and textures.

While Jars of Clay’s The Long Fall Back to Earth is comprised of fourteen tracks which are mostly excellent and can mostly stand on their own, the album’s real strength lies in its sequencing. The constantly alternating pace and instrumentation from song to song keeps the listener engaged and almost always pleasantly surprised. With their latest album, Jars of Clay continues to defy the incorrect stereotype of “acoustic Christian band.” Instead, The Long Fall Back to Earth represents the ongoing evolution of a band that continues to remain relevant in many spheres of music.