Immersed

This is one talent that can't be hidden for long. Not when the music's this good. With the release of this impressive debut album, newcomer Joshua Blakesley is well on his way to becoming one of the biggest names in the praise and worship scene.

Every one of these 12 original tracks is an absolute gem. Song after song, Joshua shows his poet's knack for expressing the extraordinary truths of our faith in beautifully ordinary ways. His soulful, raspy voice combines with acoustic and electric guitars, bass, piano and percussion for a superlative pop-rock sound that satisfies.

Joshua's catchy choruses make you want to sing along, and the funky, irresistible rhythms and background vocals create a great musical context for his confessional, faith-building lyrics. "I am immersed in your love," Joshua says in the liner notes, speaking to God. "This music is my attempt to draw people closer to you than they've ever been."

"I wanna feel the gift of worship," he sings in "Heaven," a spine-tingling, slow-building epic and one of the album's highlights. Joshua definitely feels it. Immersed in his music, you can't help but feel it, too.