South Carolina’s Needtobreathe have been fixtures on both the Christian and, increasingly, the mainstream charts with their sky-climbing alternative-rock ballads. They’re one of the few Christian bands that has been able to appeal to secular listeners without distancing themselves from their CCM origins. Their third and latest album, The Heat, suggests a rootsier Coldplay, with welcome bits of twang slipping in to add a little grit to the band’s studio-slickened songs.
