Nashville-based duo
Apollo LTD make exuberant, '80s- and '90s-influenced pop that combines buoyant electronics, airy synths, and hooky guitars. Having worked together as songwriters for others, they released their own eponymous debut EP in 2015. The band had their first Billboard success after exploring spiritual themes with their debut album, 2019's Out of Body. It included the Top 30 Hot Christian song "Gold." They returned to the Christian Top 40 with tracks from their second full-length, 2021's
Nothing Is Ordinary. Everything Is Beautiful. Formed in 2015, the duo features singer/instrumentalist Jordan Phillips and producer/instrumentalist Adam Stark. Previously, Phillips and Stark had played together in the Kicks and found additional work as songwriters and background singers before deciding to focus on their own creative output. They gained attention early on for the single "What Are You Waiting For," which led to opening slots for acts like
DNCE,
Kesha, and
Panic! At the Disco, among others.
In 2018,
Apollo LTD released their sophomore EP, which they expanded into a debut album of the same name, 2019's Out of Body, after signing with Residence Music. Its positivity and spiritual themes caught on with Christian audiences, and the singles "On the Way Up" and "Gold" reached number 36 and 28, respectively, on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart. A year later, they had another Top 40 Christian hit with "You," which appeared on their second album,
Nothing Is Ordinary. Everything Is Beautiful., in early 2021. That February, their song "Patience" peaked at number 31 on the same chart. ~ Matt Collar & Marcy Donelson