''Love Is the Evidence'' is the first studio album by American

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

band

Citizen Way Citizen Way, formerly known as The Least of These, is a contemporary Christian music and Christian rock band from Elgin, Illinois. Ben Blascoe retired from the band in 2015. The band relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in 2016 and Josh Calhoun left ...

, which was released on April 26, 2013, by

Fair Trade Services Fair Trade Services, formerly known as INO Records, is an American record label based in Brentwood, Tennessee, specializing in Contemporary Christian music (CCM). History The label was founded in 1999 as INO Records, a division of M2 Communica ...

, and the producers on the album were

Seth Mosley Seth David Mosley (born October 17, 1987) is an American Christian musician and record producer, who plays Christian pop and Christian rock. He was the frontman for the Christian alternative rock band Me in Motion. Mosley was awarded the Songwr ...

and Citizen Way.

Reception

Critical

''Love Is the Evidence'' has received almost universal acclaim from the music critics. Louder Than the Music's Dave Wood found the release to be "modern and relevant sounding, with stunning moments of brilliant inspiration", which "their pop approach to worship is refreshing and entertaining". At New Release Tuesday, Kevin Davis told that after hearing the album he was "stirred with compassion to love people as Jesus loves us." At

Cross Rhythms Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operates an FM and online radio station, produces radio shows sent internationally, and its website has resources about contemporary Christian music. Hi ...

, Tony Cummings touched on that it took nine years for the band to come into the spotlight, and now "their radio-friendly music will surely mean they stay in the spotlight ." At ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has bee ...

'', Grace S. Aspinwall noted how "listeners will gravitate towards the likeable pop sound that Citizen Way bring to the table", and this makes it a "strong and enjoyable album and promising debut from start to finish." Mark Rice of Jesus Freak Hideout alluded to how the release was "pretty good with greatness easily within its grasp." Christian Music Zine's Emily Kjonaas evoked that she "see a lot of potential for this band of brothers." At Indie Vision Music, Jonathan Andre vowed that "while it does have its mishaps, issues and drama, is far from unfixable with a great amount of potential to improve upon in years to come!"

Commercial

On the May 11, 2013 charts, the album was the fourth most sold ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

album. Plus, it was the No. 22 most sold Christian Album in the United States.

Track listing

Personnel

Citizen Way * Ben Calhoun – vocals, programming, guitars, horns * Josh Calhoun – vocals, upright piano, keyboards, synthesizers, drums (10) * Ben Blascoe – bass guitar, backing vocals (4) * David Blascoe –

Omnichord The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. It typically features a touch plate known as "Sonic Strings", preset rhythms, auto-bass line functionality, and buttons for ma ...

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

, drums (1-9), percussion, backing vocals (4) Additional musicians *

– synthesizers, programming, guitars,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, ukulele, backing vocals *

Jeff Pardo Jeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Pardo (born December 18, 1981) is an American Christian musician, who is mainly a music producer, songwriter, and composer. He has received a Grammy Award nomination at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Early life Pardo was ...

– keyboards (2) *

Jason Ingram Jason David Ingram is an American Christian music producer and songwriter. He has been a songwriter for many Christian artists, including Bebo Norman and Point of Grace. Career Around the end of 2001, he was the first artist to be signed to ...

– acoustic guitar (1) * David Henry – strings *

Matt Hammitt Matt Hammitt (born October 19, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, speaker and author. He was the lead singer for Sanctus Real, which has released seven studio albums with Sparrow Records, toured internationally and released 14 top five ...

– vocals (8)

Production

* James Rueger – A&R * Citizen Way – producers * Seth Mosley – producer, engineer, mix assistant (1, 5, 8) * Ben Phillips – engineer (4) * Aaron Ruse – engineer (10) *

F. Reid Shippen F. Reid Shippen is a mixer, engineer and producer, currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has mixed a wide variety of records including "Cosmic Hallelujah" by Kenny Chesney, " Lights Out" by Ingrid Michaelson, "The Mountain" by Dierks Bent ...

– mixing at Robot Lemon (Nashville, Tennessee) * Paul "Paco" Cossette – mix assistant (2, 4, 6) * Allen Salmon – mix assistant (3, 7, 9, 10) * Dave McNair – mastering * Dana Salsedo – creative director * Jeremy Spyridon – graphic design * David Molnar – photography * Creative Trust – management

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2013 debut albums Citizen Way albums Fair Trade Services albums