There’s never been a better time to be in a Christian indie band.
A new wave of artists is making indie rock that takes faith seriously without letting it flatten the sound — bands whose Spotify pages won’t tip anyone off and whose shows sell out before the Christian press catches up. Whether you’re already plugged into this world or just now realizing there’s a world to be plugged into, these five acts are worth your full attention:
DWLLRS
Bren Eissman and Joey Spurgeon met at Vanguard University and, to the benefit of everyone, decided to make hazy, Frank Ocean-adjacent indie pop instead of doing something responsible. Their 2022 signing to Island Records and the viral pull of “Float Through the Ceiling” and “Blue Spirits” suggested the mainstream was ready for music that could soundtrack both an existential crisis and a beach day. Their faith is embedded rather than announced — the duo describes their work as “our soul’s pursuit for God and the intangible through music” — which is to say, it sounds exactly like what would happen if Tame Impala went to church and didn’t tell anyone about it.
half•alive
Josh Taylor, J Tyler Johnson and (now former member) Brett Kramer formed in Long Beach in 2016, and their 2018 single “Still Feel” — which cracked the top ten on the Alternative Airplay chart — made a persuasive case that Christian-adjacent indie pop could actually be interesting. Taylor has talked about wanting to write faith-informed music without the Bible-thumping, and what that looks like in practice is something genuinely affecting: dark electro-tinged indie with enough ambiguity to pull in listeners who’d never click on anything tagged “Christian music,” and enough conviction to mean something to those who would.
TIDES
They named a song “WHAT CAN FLESH DO TO ME?” so the ambiguity pretty much ends there. What’s surprising is that the music actually earns the boldness — their 2025 EP Jesus Take It All and this year’s album Bermuda don’t feel like declarations so much as documents. A band working something out in real time, and doing it well.
Seven7h Way
Brothers Matthew and Christian Hamel are from Tallahassee and make what they call “indie Jesus music,” which is either the most disarming or most accurate genre description you’ve heard all year — possibly both. Their sound blends indie pop with alt-punk and a subtle retro edge that keeps it from feeling too calculated. They’re still early in their run, which is exactly why now is the right time to pay attention.
Party Wave
Forrest Frank — yes, that Forrest Frank — and Noah Hayden launched Party Wave in 2026 and released their debut album Dawn Patrol this past April. The surf-inspired framing sounds gimmicky until you realize Frank has a genuine gift for melody and Hayden brings enough rock instinct to keep it from drifting off entirely. “Dawn Patrol,” for the uninitiated, is surfer slang for catching waves before the crowds show up. Consider this your early heads-up.
