Everything is Different Now
Artist:  Stellar Kart
Label:  INO Records
Time:  10 songs / 35 minutes
 
The fourth release from the Phoenix-based band Stellar Kart, and first for INO Records, finds them moving toward a more power pop sound with some modern worship ballads mixed in.  This project was born out of spending time leading worship for a youth camp.  So through this time, they found some of the songs that they enjoyed and also wrote some new material.  Out of this came their newest disc Everything is Different Now.
 
Ian Eskelin (All Star United) produced this project giving it a very big sound with huge sweeping choruses and ringing guitars.  Left behind though, is the more punk/pop sound of past releases.  Even though there does appear to be some growth and maturity in their playing and songwriting, I was hoping for more.
 
The originals written for this record seem to be mostly in the worship vein. Nothing, though, jumped out at me and made me re-listen.  It is all very pleasant and easy to listen to.  Along with the original material, there are several covers as well.  While some of the covers are done well enough, I feel a couple of them would have been better left off.
 
While you won’t find anything here that hasn’t been done many times before, fans of Stellar Kart will probably enjoy it.  So if you enjoy modern worship music mixed with guitar driven pop, then you will probably enjoy this a lot.  
 
by Gar Saeger