Switchfoot is back with an album that rocks with lyrics that make think while CeCe Winans’ latest solo project is full of sweet soul gospel.

The San Diego alt-rock band’s new record, Nothing is Sound, once again finds Foreman questioning everything, as he did on the band’s two and a half-million selling breakout album The Beautiful Letdown. “That’s pretty much where our music naturally goes,” he says. “I ask myself questions and sing about it. A lot of these songs are like an oyster. A bit of sand gets in and it’s abrasive and troublesome. The oyster starts working on it and a few years later you open it up and there’s pearl in there. That’s what I do in my songs—chew on the more abrasive parts of my life.”

It’s Switchfoot’s raw honesty that has continued to inspire the group’s hordes of loyal fans, and Nothing is Sound does not disappoint in that area. It retains Foreman’s signature thoughtful, questioning lyrics and bathes them in huge hooks and crashing guitars.

On 2003’s RIAA gold-certified Throne Room, her last solo album, the heavenly gospel singer CeCe Winans brought a fresh contemporary vibe to a collection that pulsated with passion and spiritual intimacy.

With Purified, her trailblazing seventh solo album, CeCe Winans combines the transformative power of gospel music with heart-stopping pop, street-smart R&B and infectious dance-floor rhythms to create her most compelling set of songs to-date. Truly inspired in every sense of the word, Purified is a celebration of the heart, the soul and the spirit.

Head over to HearItFirst.ca to listen to audio samples from these projects. Both Purified and Nothing Is Sound will available at Canadian Christian retailers nationwide on September 13th. To locate the store nearest you, visit CMCStoreFinder.com.