BIGSONG:
Are Messengers make Christian music with a bright, adult alternative sound. They hit the Christian Top Ten with their eponymous debut album, released in 2016, and again in 2020 and 2021 with Power and Wholehearted, respectively. Founded in Nashville, Tennessee in 2015 after Darren and his wife, singer Heidi Mulligan, relocated from Monaghan, Ireland, We Are Messengers’ original lineup featured both Mulligans, guitarist Caleb Clingan, bassist Matthew Montgomery, and drummer Alex McVey. The group released its first album, We Are Messengers, in April 2016 on Word Records, which had signed Mulligan after hearing his prior band, the Remission Flow. With radio support for songs like “Everything Comes Alive” and “Magnify,” the album debuted at number ten on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart and led to a Dove Award nomination for New Artist of the Year. My Utmost for His HighestIn 2017, the We Are Messengers song “I’ll Think About You” was written for and featured on the soundtrack to the faith-based film The Shack. Still charting with songs from their debut in 2018, they also had a minor hit with “Needing You Now,” a collaboration with Meredith Andrews from the Word compilation My Utmost for His Highest. They returned in November of that year with “Maybe It’s Ok,” the first single from their sophomore album Power, which arrived in early 2020 and featured a re-tooled lineup consisting of Mulligan, Kyle Williams (guitar), Drew Kerxton (drums), and Drake Kennedy (bass). Early 2021 saw the release of the heartfelt single “Come What May,” which appeared on the band’s third long-player, Wholehearted, later that year.