Singer/songwriter John Mark McMillan follows in the footsteps of such eloquent Christian rock pioneers as Keith Green and Mark Heard in these visionary songs, filling his lyrics with vivid, almost surreal images of suffering and resurrection. Those who know McMillan as the writer of “How He Loves” (popularized by the David Crowder Band) will find the artist’s own recorded work to be unexpectedly broad in sound and diverse in approach. Songs like “Skeleton Bones,” “Carbon Ribs” and “Belly of the Lion” have a cinematic quality in their depiction of broken urban landscapes, lost highways and desperate souls waiting for salvation. The epochal “Reckoning Day” is a particularly compelling portrait of a coming Rapture amidst the chaos of modern America. “Philadelphia” and “Carolina Tide” capture a small-town Southern ambiance through their telling lyric details and bluesy shadings. Straight-ahead worship tunes like “My Only” are delivered with a disarming sincerity and humble strength. By turns quirky, startling and inspirational, The Medicine is a potent tonic for the spirit.

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