Always Only Jesus
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- The IOA (Nashville, Tennessee)
| Always Only Jesus | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 21, 2022 | |||
| Recorded | 2020–2021 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 39:00 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | ||||
| MercyMe chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Always Only Jesus | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| 365 Days of Inspiring Media |   [2] |
| CCM Magazine |  [3] |
| Hallels | [4] |
| Jesus Freak Hideout | [5] |
| Jubilee Cast | [1] |
| Today's Christian Entertainment | [6] |
Always Only Jesus is the eleventh studio album by the American Christian rock band MercyMe. The album was released on October 21, 2022, via Fair Trade Services, to CD, LP, digital download, and streaming formats. It was produced by Tedd Tjornhom, Brown Bannister, and Jordan Mohilowski.[7]
Always Only Jesus was supported by the release of three singles, including "Then Christ Came", featuring Phil Wickham, "To Not Worship You", and "Always Only Jesus".[8][9][10] "Then Christ Came" peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart, hile "To Not Worship You" peaked at number 5 and "Always Only Jesus" peaked at number 11. Selling 9,000 first-week units in the United States, Always Only Jesus debuted at number 126 on the Billboard 200, and opened leading the Top Christian Albums chart.
Style
Always Only Jesus is predominantly demonstrative of a "pop‑centric CCM" approach, containing polished production and rhythmic percussion. Critics often noted the album's airplay-friendly, radio‑ready sound, especially compared to the more diverse sound of the album's preceding Inhale (Exhale) (2021).[1] Josh Balogh of Jesus Freak Hideout observed the band's change toward "a trim ten‑track set" and praised the album's "drum line percussion, clipped phrasing, and the type of hook that has garnered mainstream band Imagine Dragons a zillion streams."[5]. Timothy Yap of Jubilee Cast noted its energetic, modern pop tyles.[1]
Several critics pointed out the album's mixture of upbeat pop and reflective ballads. Balogh identified the track "Lost in You" as a "mid‑tempo highlight" featuring frontman Bart Millard's falsetto, while calling "Then Christ Came" a "slow burn piano ballad" that builds into an "infectious bounce".[5] Mallory Romportl of Today's Christian Entertainment placed emphasis on the album's dynamic pacing, noting that "'To Not Worship You'… slows down a bit, it flows very nicely and has a great beat".[6]. Yap praised the "breezy pop with a crisp beat" of Lost in You".[1] The album closes with a reimagined hymn, "Nothing But the Blood", which critics viewed as a stylistic risk. Dan Macintosh of CCM Magazine called the rearrangement one that "will make you listen to these familiar hymn's lyrics in a new light",[3] while Yap argued that "not many new melodies can match the eternally endearing originals… sadly, MercyMe are unsuccessful too".[1]
Lyrics and meaning
Lyrically, Always Only Jesus centers on themes of God's supremacy, personal transformation, and grace. Critics repeatedly noted the album's explicit Christ‑focused writing. Macintosh praised MercyMe's "solid theology", noting that the band "are never afraid to specifically sing the name of Jesus", contrasting them with worship songs that "can oftentimes be mistaken for romantic love songs".[3] Yap similarly described the album as "a return to the fundamentals", with its ten tracks “point[ing] to Jesus and the message of the Gospel".[1]
Several songs explore personal struggle and spiritual redemption. "Forgivable" has been considered to be one of the most significant examples of this, containing a message of grace; Yap praised its direct engagement with self‑pity and shame, while Romportl repeated the specific lyrics "Come as you are, not as you should be" as capturing "how much grace He has on us".[6][1] "Heart Beats for Your Good", another notable example of this, addresses suffering with poetic imagery; Yap noted its "moving lines", including the metaphor of a hurricane that "is nothing but a breeze to You".[1].
Transformation is a central theme in "Then Christ Came", which multiple critics labelled as one of the album's most emotional tracks. Jonathan Andre of 365 Days of Inspiring Media described it as "a song about Christ coming into our lives and nothing ever being the same".[2] Romportl likewise called it "a beautiful song" that "describes what it's like when Jesus radically changes your life".[6] The title track reinforces the further emphasizes the album's thematic core. Yap noted that the song "spells out the direction of the record", while Macintosh described it as a "statement of purpose" reminding listeners to resist distraction and "remember… the name of Jesus".[1][3]