ON THE RISE
Charleston, S. — In the modern sea of Christian music, few voices cut through with both conviction and vulnerability like Matthew Hartley’s. The Charleston-based Christian rock artist channels his life’s trials and transformations into music that isn’t just heard—it confronts, convicts, and ultimately calls. His latest track, “Heaven’s Calling,” is not only a standout in sound but in spiritual urgency, a thunderous reminder to believers: it’s time to get right with God.
When asked what place he was in when writing “Heaven’s Calling,” Hartley doesn’t hold back. “There’s a pretty strong message to it,” he admits, referencing a long and sometimes painful journey of personal growth and spiritual awakening. “I went through some difficult times,” he shares, “but through all of that, I realized heaven was calling out—loudly—and had been for some time.” The track, layered in guitar riffs and raw emotion, was born from that revelation, fusing his rock roots with the undeniable pull of divine grace.
Hartley’s creative process is both organic and spiritual. He describes it as “free association,” picking up a guitar, playing for days, and allowing the music and lyrics to flow—first as abstract melodies, then slowly forming into structured truth. In this case, it started with a moment: him watching news coverage of wildfires and hurricanes while grappling with inner turmoil. “I hit this lick, and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is cool,’ and then the words, times are calling, just kinda came out,” he recalls. “Between the disasters and my own life, I thought—man, heaven’s calling. We gotta get it right.”
The song’s message is twofold: personal repentance and collective awareness. Hartley ties natural disasters to a broader spiritual metaphor, not claiming they’re divine punishment, but a vivid reminder of life’s fragility. “You don’t know when something’s gonna come down,” he says. “And that’s not God—that’s just life. But it should make us think.”
For Hartley, music is not a product of perfection, but of honesty. “I'm not perfect,” he says. “I still think about the things I shouldn’t do… but somehow, God’s given me grace through some of those decisions.” It’s that grace—and the awe of it—that fuels “Heaven’s Calling.” Not content with a sanitized version of faith, Hartley leans into the uncomfortable truths of spiritual growth: poor decisions, second chances, and the ongoing struggle to live a life aligned with God's call.
Producing the track alongside industry veteran David Kershenbaum (known for work with Tracy Chapman), Hartley found not just a musical partner, but a vehicle for bringing this deeply personal anthem to life. “That was the fun part,” he says. “To see something that started on my iPhone turn into this powerful track—it’s amazing.”
But “Heaven’s Calling” is more than just a song; it's a marker in Hartley’s spiritual walk. When asked if the song reflects the artist he’s becoming, he reflects, “I think I’ve always written like this. Even one of my earliest songs, Rise Above, started with the lyric, ‘Forgive me, Jesus, for I have sinned.’ It’s the same heart.”
In a world saturated with surface-level spirituality, Matthew Hartley is carving out space for unfiltered faith. His vulnerability isn’t a brand—it’s a witness. And “Heaven’s Calling” is a plea not from a preacher’s pulpit, but from a fellow wanderer on the narrow path, urging others to listen.
“I hope people find truth,” he says simply. “Not in me—in what they hear. If it helps even a few people turn their hearts, then I’ve done what I’m supposed to do.”
And maybe, just maybe, that’s the sound of heaven calling.
Check out “Heaven’s Calling” and follow Matthew on his socials.
ON THE RISE
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NETHERLANDS — August 26, 2026 — Brook Lynn is stepping into a new chapter with “Love Your Enemy,” an atmospheric alternative pop song that turns an intensely personal battle with anxiety into a message of self-acceptance. Written after her America’s Got Talent auditions, the song captures the internal conflict of facing the person who can be hardest to silence: yourself.
Built around cinematic production and emotionally restrained vocals, “Love Your Enemy” explores the disconnect between appearing fine in public and confronting difficult thoughts in private. The song’s central message is reflected in its chorus, where Brook Lynn sings about being “my own worst company” before arriving at its most hopeful realization: “They say, ‘Love your enemy,’ / So I’m learning how to love me.”
For Brook Lynn, that “enemy” is anxiety. Rather than presenting it as something that simply disappears, the song examines what it means to live with those thoughts while refusing to let them dictate what comes next.
“I always want to give a hopeful message in every song,” Brook Lynn explains. “I always first want to explain what is happening in your head and what you feel, and then, at the end, give a message that you can get out of this, and that anxiety doesn’t have to hold you back from all the things you want to achieve in your life.”
That message became especially significant when Brook Lynn made the decision to perform “Love Your Enemy” on America’s Got Talent. Known by many viewers for her stripped-back cover performances, she recognized that performing an original song on one of television’s biggest stages carried a different kind of risk. But she also knew she could not continue forward without showing audiences the artist behind the covers.
“I just thought it was really important to also show the world that I’m not just a cover singer,” she says. “I do want people to know that I write songs and I want to be an artist and put that out there.”
Brook Lynn performed “Love Your Enemy” during the America’s Got Talent quarterfinals, bringing the song’s story of anxiety and self-doubt directly to a massive live audience. Her journey on the show ended there, but the response made one thing clear: listeners wanted to hear more. Fans connected not only with her voice, but with the honesty behind the performance and the willingness to speak openly about emotions many people struggle to acknowledge themselves.
“I do want to be that person with my music as well for other people,” Brook Lynn says, describing her desire to write about real experiences and feelings. “I always want to be really real with everyone, like talk about deeper stuff, not surface level.”
“Love Your Enemy” arrives as Brook Lynn looks ahead to Tales From The Woods, an upcoming EP intended to introduce listeners to a broader picture of who she is as an artist. With only two original songs currently released, she says she is excited to share more music and continue developing the sound and emotional world introduced through “Love Your Enemy.”
The song is not a conclusion to Brook Lynn’s story. It is the beginning of a more open one—one where anxiety can be acknowledged without being allowed to take control, and where the feelings people are often afraid to say out loud can finally have a voice.
Listen to “Love Your Enemy,” which received promotional support from Starlight PR.
Brook Lynn creates music that feels intimate yet powerful, cinematic yet emotionally exposed. Blending atmospheric alternative pop with minimalist visual storytelling, her work explores vulnerability, isolation, emotional tension and human connection through a distinctly modern lens.
Raised in Wilp, a small town in the Netherlands, Brook Lynn grew up surrounded by silence, nature and isolation. Music became a private emotional outlet and a way to process feelings that were difficult to explain out loud. What began through stripped-back online performances evolved into a growing global audience drawn to her honesty and emotional depth.
For Brook Lynn, music is never just about being heard. It is about being understood.
thisisbrooklynn.com
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