His Name Is Alive.

I just saw His Name Is Alive last night, and they were as charming as I'd hoped they'd be. Their band name is unfortunate, not because it's particularly bad, but because it carries a certain connotation-- either metal or goth (or, duh, Christian music). It's true, their first album or two back in the early '90s had a goth vibe, but it was very artful and not pretentious. And of course, there's the fact that they then careened between styles such as indie-pop, folk, Detroit funk-rock, and slow-jam R&B, before settling into ... the combination of all of those things that they are now. (Can't say they're settled, of course-- who knows what they'll do next.)!/images/users/64/1143356576.jpeg!The man is the band's mindhead, Warn Defever. He has been responsible for every concept behind the band and all of the songwriting. The woman is their beguiling and lovely new lead singer; he always has a woman sing his lyrics.The career of His Name Is Alive, I would say, finds a good parallel in the Fiery Furnaces. They have tried so many things, not everything sticks, but most of it is bewitching and inviting, and some of that is plain astounding, and all of it's worth a shot, with an eye on the future.