Life After Death

A year to the month after releasing his eighth studio album, October 2018s The Elements, TobyMac lost his 21-year-old son Truett to an accidental drug overdose. His eventual ninth album, Life After Death, finds the genre-blurring Christian artist navigating the aftermath alongside a slew of guests with a poignant mix of warm appreciations and invigorated motivational songs. The album front-loads the latter in the form of funky, gospel-tinged pop entry "Help Is on the Way (Maybe Midnight)" and the equally uplifting "The Goodness," in which he trades lead vocals with Blessing Offor. Another lively entry, "Show Up Choose Love," features Jon Reddick and a full choir, although the track list soon heads in a more reflective direction with songs featuring Sheryl Crow ("Promised Land"), Marlee ("Everything About You"), and members of dc Talk ("Space"). Heartfelt throughout, the 15-song set closes on a moving note with the pairing of the solo "Im Sorry (a lament)" and "Rest," a spare, quasi-acoustic lullaby featuring Terrian and Gabe Real. With a quartet of its singles reaching the Christian Top Ten before the albums release, Life After Death became TobyMacs sixth straight Christian number one when it was released in August of 2022. ~ Marcy Donelson