Sign up for our free newsletter:

	www.mattpapa.com

On first glance it could be easy to mistake Matt Papa for David Crowder's younger brother, right down to that crazy, rather disheveled hair. And while he doesn't cite him as a primary influence, Papa seems to take a few musical cues from Crowder as well, as he prefers a more unorthodox approach to modern worship.

By "unorthodox," we're not talking Crowder's recent genre-hopping A Collision here. Rather, Papa favors a decidedly British rock sound with epic guitars and larger-than-life melodies that will stick in your head for days. But before anyone would mistake his work for something from Coldplay, Papa's songs are primarily pulled straight from Scripture—something that also sets him apart from his worship contemporaries, including Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and even Delirious, who Papa credits with inspiring his sound, along with classical legends like Bach.

It certainly doesn't hurt his cause either that Papa has an appealing voice and a relatable way of communicating simple spiritual truths. The best example is "In Your Arms," which was fashioned from Paul's lament that so often we as believers don't do the very thing we want to do. Other quieter, more contemplative moments, like "23," "Unto the One" and "Who is Like You," prove that simple lyrics can be just as compelling as complicated ones.

Reared in the Bible Belt where he grew up in the church, Papa says he discovered his need for Christ when he was 12 after his youth pastor "brought me to the realization that I needed something more, that life was bigger than just me." Two years later, Papa "felt the call" to lead worship, and he started doing so in his youth group.

Five years after that, Papa traveled with worship evangelist Chris Orr before traveling on his own while attending college in Georgia. Describing himself as "a preacher with a guitar," Papa says he desires to see God's people get back to Spirit-led, Spirit-filled worship. "I want to write songs because I think songwriters are more powerful than preachers… I like to write music that is straight out of Scripture so it gets the Word of God into people's hearts and heads." With his self-titled debut, it seems that Papa's mission has clearly been accomplished with compelling songs in a genre that's become quite crowded with less-inspired releases in recent years.

For more information about Matt Papa and his album, visit www.mattpapa.com.

If you're an independent artist and would like to be considered for coverage, please send CDs and any additional press materials to:

Will and Christa Banister
Attn: Independent Christian Artists
420 Elmington Ave. #1403
Nashville, TN 37205

Due to the number of projects we receive, we are unable to cover or correspond with every artist that contributes. But we do give all submissions a fair listen for coverage consideration.

	www.mattpapa.com

© Christa Banister, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

Click here to view our music review archives.

Visit the artist pages for related interviews and reviews.

				Try an Issue of Today's Christian RISK-FREE! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issues are yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!