Three years after the incredible record breaking hit, Jesus Freak, dc Talk has come out with yet another hit album, Supernatural. The band has been working hard for the past three years. They took the Jesus Freak tour all over the world for the first year and a half. Their huge tours covered the U.S. and major countries of Europe. During this time, the mainstream saw what they were missing and decided to pay some attention to it. The band landed a deal with the giant mainstream label, Virgin. Then they made the concert video entitled Welcome to the Freak Show and the C.D. of the concert titled the same. But fans far and wide were longing for new songs. Toby, Mike, and Kevin saw the need and took up an invitation to go to a castle in France so they could write some new material. They did, in fact, go to the castle and they came up with a few new songs there. Then they kept making more new songs, and they went to the studio and spent long, grueling hours recording them. Thus, the new extremely anticipated album Supernatural was made. The best thing about Supernatural is that not every single song is written by Toby, but Kevin and Michael as well. This is the album that dc Talk had in them. Their goal was to make it and put it out. They strongly agree that it is their best material yet.
Many may be wondering if dc Talk changed their musical style again. I can say that the style of Supernatural is not exactly the same as Jesus Freak. But I can guarantee that fans of Jesus Freak will not be disappointed with the new material. They have taken some tiny ventures into different realms of music on this album. But all of the songs can be described as pop-oriented alternative rock, as they were on their last album. The title-track song, Supernatural, follows the trend that many artists are doing now, which is venturing into the world of electronica. This is done in a subtle but noticeable way so that no one is shocked. It holds onto driving alternative-grunge style as did their last album's hit song Jesus Freak. It is the most edgy alternative-rock song on the album. Next in that line of edge is the sure-to-be hit, It's Killing Me. This song, like Jesus Freak's song So Help Me God, is great poppy alternative-rock to the core. They add to the list of songs that have that poppy alternative-rock sound with the catchy almost surf-like song Since I Met You. This song is highly reminiscent of Zilch (dc Talk's band's band) with the dc Talk distinction being the incredible vocal blend they can only do. Then they do the pop-alternative-beatlesque tune, My Friend So Long. They add in pop-Seal-like tunes like Godsend and mix in some funkability with Wanna Be Loved. Then we have our mellow rock-pop songs like Into Jesus and Consume Me as well as the piano driven Red Letters.
Despite the band's current deal with a mainstream label such as Virgin, they were not required to water down their message. The label liked what they heard when they saw the band and how many fans were drawn to their style. They didn't want to take away from the band's creativity or stop them from putting out a positive message. They liked how dc Talk stood for something. It made them stand out as artists. That's why they offered dc Talk the deal without the guys even having to ask. So, like on their past albums, dc Talk boldly took the message of Jesus Christ and put it to ingeniously creative music. They did it well too. It's Killing Me reveals how painful a Christian feels when they see non-believers who don't want Jesus in their life. Dive is a song to God explaining how in the midst of our pain and sorrow we chose to follow Jesus and "took a dive" into his arms. Then Consume Me of course deals with being consumed in God and his love. A song with interesting lyrics is My Friend (So Long). This is because it talks about a subject that dc Talk has related to their musical career. It has to do with a band who stops singing for the Lord after making the big time in the secular music world. The lyrics ask why a band would choose to put God away when they reach the top. Fearless is about how we can be without fear of anything because we have Jesus Christ. Since I Met You is about the love and peace and new life we've found in Jesus. Into Jesus is a proclamation of faith in Jesus repeating the chorus line: "Hey you, I'm into Jesus." The song, Supernatural, is about the divine power of God and how everything He's made shows evidence of His divine power.
In all, this album measures up to the musical and lyrical levels of Jesus Freak. It also has a lot of creativity in it, as all dc Talk albums do. This band is extremely artistic and ingenious when it comes to music and great vocals. Their blend of vocals is what makes them dc Talk. It is what makes them so unique and original as artists. That's why Supernatural is so rawkin!
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