This week’s premieres feature a worship leader from Ontario and a hardcore band from Ohio, two projects that are “O” so good.

Canadian worship artist and songwriter Joel Augé will offer his eclectic and authentic brand of worship music with the June 3rd release of On The Blue.

With On The Blue, Augé offers 12 songs about faith and love that are vertically inspired and deeply introspective. All are delivered on a canvas of art-rock, folk and pop by Augé, with help from producer Stephen Leiweke, who has recently been getting acclaim for his work on American Idol finalist Chris Sligh’s debut CD.

Augé promises listeners of On The Blue will see “an authentic reflection of my heart, to say real things to God and not ‘pretty it up.’ These are truth songs. Hopefully, they will stretch people’s hearts and minds while they’re worshipping Jesus.”

Although On The Blue marks his solo debut, Augé is not new to music. He has been performing and recording since 1999 with the bands Capstone, Six Days and most recently, the alt-pop indie band Hewit, which has had its music featured on CTV, Lifetime Television, The Hallmark Channel and ABC.

A CD release party is scheduled for Sunday, June 1st at 7:00PM, at The Meeting House where Augéserves as a worship leader in Oakville, Ontario. The event is free. More information can be found at the YMZ Concert section. Additional information on Augé and audio samples from On The Blue can be found on his YMZ artist page. Also, video song stories for the album and Augé’s EPK can be found in the YMZ Media section.

Inhale/ Exhale is as straightforward as breathing itself. I Swear…, the Ohio band’s Solid State sophomore release, is refreshing in equal measure for its love of heavy diverse music as it is the depth to which it mines classic rock.

“We have our own style of rock,” states guitarist John Larussa, echoing a sentiment shared by singer Ryland Raus. “We feel that it’s structured well, and that it brings people in. We want someone to pop our disc in on the way to work if they need to hear something that will lift them up, and at the same time hear something with passion and raw energy.”

Thrash metal (including Bay Area legends Testament), singer-songwriters (ever heard of Johnny Cash?) and even a bit of country music informs what Inhale/ Exhale brings forth: emotionally moving but brutal tunes.

Best of all, Inhale/ Exhale’s songs make sense. The landscape is cluttered with bands who have no idea how to string their riffs together. In contrast they’ve gone to great lengths to structure things properly, and take their musicianship seriously.

I Swear… will be available on June 10th while On The Blue will be specially priced at $14.99 or less when it arrives at your local Canadian Christian retailer this Tuesday, June 3rd. Keep track of all the new and upcoming releases via your own personal copy of the May New Music Tuesday poster. Head over to HearItFirst.ca to hear more from these new releases.

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