Photo: Chris White

Anthem Lights received a calling to not be just another pop band. No, this calling was greater than that.

The group – comprised of Alan Powell, Caleb Grimm, Chad Graham and Joey Stamper – set out to be something much different from a traditional industry pop band. As Christians, Anthem Lights wanted to glorify God’s name through both pop and Christian genres of music. The band continually seeks to share the Gospel while, at the same time, making its music current for today’s listener regardless of his or her religion.

According to Anthem Lights’ Facebook, the band was formed in 2007 when Powell joined forces with Graham. Both were writing songs for Graham’s budding solo career. They realized the powerful songs they were writing were meant for a group. Within a short period of time, the band formed and signed with Reunion Records in Nashville, Tenn. Since then, Anthem Lights has recorded and produced a little bit of everything from originals to covers. To date, the band has released five albums to iTunes – with a sixth on the way.  Anthem Lights also won a contest for a cover of Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Getting Back Together” and made it to the finals of a cover contest for Katy Perry’s “Roar” on RyanSeacrest.com. Both of which were huge in terms of national exposure for the band.

Enough talk. On to the music!

How about a cover first? Here’s a little Justin Timberlake Mash-Up. Yep, you read that right!

And now an original. The aforementioned new album from Anthem Lights is called You Have My Heart and is due out February 4. It was an album funded through Kickstarter and I, as a contributor to that campaign, got it before the release date. One of the tracks – “Follow Your Heart” – has an amazing message about not following your own selfish heart but following God’s heart instead.

Have a listen and be sure to Like the band on Facebook and follow on Twitter!