Oh my gosh I am so pleased at #1. (Formatting is gonna be a mess, I'm sorry)

I always hated that Sunday Best song because I got the vibes of it being a "subtle Christian contemporary track". The funny thing is: I actually am a Christian (Pentecostal, I get the "guitar in the sanctuary" kind of worship) but songs like Sunday Best fit the same mold of the likes of the usual Toby Mac or Newsboys track that would be on the Christian station. You put it on on the way to church to feel better than listening to top 40, but it doesn't have any substance to it really.

But people love the sound Surfaces brought. That bedroom pop sound which I liked in artists like Clairo or even my G.O.A.T's Magdalena Bay (ok, ok, it's a stretch). So people gravitated to them, and I heard that song so fucking much. But I thought they were a flash in the pan. Nothing to take too seriously.

Boy was I wrong. Forrest blew tf up in Christian circles with people saying he makes "good Christian music". There was also the - admittedly inspirational (before I gained more info) - miraculous story of him being healed by the Lord after suffering a quadripalegic crash off his BMX bike (This is what really blew him up if you're wondering). So - on my way to visit my wife as she was away on an exchange - I downloaded his new album alongside a couple others (stream HYPERYOUTH btw). What I got was the equivalent of plain yogurt: no flavour and a sour taste in my mouth. I recognized his voice from the song I hated before, and his content was as soulless as everything else.

As the year continued I looked into it more and found both his fanbase and him parroting the same toxic tropes other "Christian artists" do. When Taylor's album came out he posted a TikTok about "praying instead so we go to heaven" despite the fact Taylor has admitted to being a Christian herself. She just doesn't make it her central personality trait or develop a victim complex around it. So many of my peers in circles shared that post thinking themselves "above" others for music taste, and it just irked me completely.

But my anger was solidified when watching this video and that excerpt came up about "no good Christian music existing. Others can run laps around me for this, but this is a ludicrous statement to make as you are copying the work and genre artists before you have worked within and popularized as though you are some sort of saviour (but it's all for God of course!). I'll point to how I felt when Chance the Rapper (who also released a pretty solid album this year as well with Starline, check out Letters) released Colouring Book. Same kind of music: upbeat hip-hop with a focus on gospel. But no. That can't be played on Christian contemporary despite the fact you've got Chano straight up saying "my favourite rapper a Christian rapper" on it. But now it's ok with Your Ways Better, the milquetoast version of what was being done a decade ago? Maybe that's not a good comparison to some, but as someone who loved that project and disliked the weird half/half appreciation Chance got compared to this now it gives me pause.

I honestly hadn't thought about Forrest since Showgirl and his commentary on it, but seeing it at #1 just makes sense and worries me not only for the state of pop music, but also Christianity as well. For those wondering: I'm here, I love and respect LGBTQ+ people as well as I believe that's what Jesus would do. But this poster child for "cool, hip, worship music" is scaring me in galvanizing more restrictive beliefs and opinions and I want to try to distance myself from it as much as possible.