Abandon is a Christian rock band that's based out of San Antonio, Texas. It all got started for them when brothers Josh and Justin Engler moved from their home state of Indiana to Texas while still attending high school. Once there they met Dave and Stevan Vela, who are cousins at church, and they all started playing together in the church's worship band. Current band bassist Bryan Fowler was also added later to the band's lineup.

While the band has previously released several EP's, 'Searchlights' is their national full-length label debut on Forefront Records. Longtime fans of the band though will recognize a lot of the songs found on 'Searchlights', because several of the songs, nine to be exact, found on the album are taken off of the band's previously released EPs.

Besides those nine previously released songs you'll also find three brand new ones, "Confession," "Here We are Now," and "Safe in Your Arms," on 'Searchlights'.

Stylistically the band’s music is a blend of mostly a modern rock sound with elements of an alt-pop style that's also found on several of the songs.

One of the more powerful tracks found on 'Searchlights' is, "Hold On," an up tempo track featuring nice keyboard work. As the name implies the song deals with a teenage girl from a broken home that's struggling with life. The song's lyrics implore her to hold on and to keep her eyes on God. The song also drives home the point that as Christians we need to be beacons of light to those hurting by reaching out to them with a Christ-like love.

"Your Love Lifts Me Up," is another solid track. The mid tempo song deals with the power that comes from drawing closer to God and talks about seeking Him out more and more each day.

That theme of searching for light in troubled situations and the need to follow God's 'searchlight' in our lives is one of the main themes found on the album. Another theme dealt with is the need to reach out to others with a selfless type of love.

For those of you looking for a more melodic track to enjoy should find the album's last track, "Hero," to your liking. The piano ballad deals with Jesus' time spent on earth and His journey that included dying on the cross for our sins.

If you're new to the music of Abandon then I would recommend you get 'Searchlights' but for longtime fans of the band, who probably already own the EPs that include nine of the twelve songs that make up this release, it's a hard call. The three new songs are well done but I would probably check around and try buying just the new tracks instead of the whole album.