Psalms, the debut project from singer/songwriter Shane Barnard and his friend and musician Shane Everett, is a collection of thirteen of the most artistically fluid, remarkably powerful worship songs I've ever heard, especially for a new artist.

Psalms is stunning, standing toe-to-toe with the likes of Caedmon's Call or Downhere in folk/rock intensity and lyrical quality, while generating a sense of artistic purpose so solid that it's almost unfathomable for a new artist to be this good, this real, immediately out of the gate. Barnard's talents are many and varied, from the compellingly honest pleadings of the heart in his lyrics, to the amazing musicianship that encompasses blistering guitar work and vibrant hammered dulcimer sounds, to the emotive qualities of his alt/rock vocals. And he knows how to rock.

I can't remember the last time I was spiritually fed so fully and satisfyingly by just one album. Psalms is nothing less than a musical revelation.