“Fire in the Heavens” by The Choir

The legendary Christian alternative band embraces their atmospheric tendencies on their first instrumental album.

The Choir have always been an atmospherically minded outfit; just listen to the textured synths and chiming guitars on 1986’s Diamonds and Rain and 1987’s Chase the Kangaroo to hear what I mean. But for 2024’s Translucent, guitarist Derri Daugherty, percussionist Steve Hindalong, and saxophonist Dan Michaels fully embraced their atmospheric tendencies in the form of ten instrumentals.

Opening track “Fire in the Heavens” quickly sets the album’s tone with moody drones, Vangelis-esque atmospherics, and echoing guitars that evoke the sun rising for the first time in ages over 2019 Los Angeles.

On a related note, if you enjoy The Choir’s instrumental fare, then you might also be interested in Clouds Echo in Blue, a solo album of “ambient electric guitar-driven” instrumentals that Daugherty originally released in 2011 on the Galaxy21 Music label.

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