kendall payne’s new album, paper skin, is out and available from her website, from cdbaby, and on itunes. and i highly, highly recommend it.

kendall’s been a long-time favorite of mine, ever since she stepped onto the stage at a national youth workers convention, when we’d never heard of her, and blew every single living soul away with her simple-but-powerful voice, songwriting, guitar playing, and uber-compelling all-around stage presence. i remember being at greenbelt in england, when kendall was there. no one knew who she was. so yaconelli had her play a song or two at the beginning of his always-packed seminars. pure magic.

this new album is the kind of evolution i like to see in an artist i’m already a fan of: enough of what i’ve come to love in her music (shockingly honest and open lyrical content, a voice that could slay dragons or shush a cranky baby, simple and clean production), combined with growth (as a musician, as a human, as a song writer, and as a jesus-follower). kendall’s married now, and — maybe that’s brought some stability to her life? — this new collection of songs has less fiestiness, and more confidence.

and another huge change: she learned to play (and write for) piano. the guitar is still there on some songs (i think i still prefer kendall on guitar), but the piano-driven songs add a whole new wing to kendall’s house of sound.

if i had a third hand, i’d give this album three thumbs up.