Christian City Youth

Wes Jay looks at the bold new approach that Christian City Youth are using to represent dying to self and living for Christ.

Nikki Fletcher, the primary vocalist and songwriter for Christian City Youth (formerly CCC Youth), is sitting in the offices of The Grove recording studio on the NSW Central Coast wearing a white singlet, blue jeans and pink skate shoes.
Christian City Youth has just finished recording its fifth album, “No longer I,” in studios previously owned by INXS, and now owned by Mark and Darlene Zschech.
The atmosphere is relaxed and cruisy.
Long-term followers of the band’s music will notice a few changes with “No longer I.” The sound is more distinct, and the songs more polished and hooky.
Nikki says that working with producer Paul Mabury (Brooke Fraser, Reuben Morgan, The Jive Express) has really helped raise the bar for the band musically.
“More importantly,” she says, “Paul has helped us focus on God more than just doing it for the music. He has taken us to a new level in our production, and this has helped us more clearly convey what God has been showing us."
The “No longer I” CD cover reflects this new approach—it’s bold, striking and bright, symbolising the central message of the album.
“It’s got our eyes torn out, and our faces are torn,” she says with a broad grin.
“In the past year, all the members of the band have gone through a process of ‘dying’—letting things go. As long as I’m serving God, that’s all that matters for me.
“So the cover and the songs are saying what we’ve come to experience. It’s not really about us, it’s about Christ,” Nikki emphasises.
Christian City Youth has released the song “More than” as the first single from the album. The song is steadily gaining strong radio support around Australia.
The group heads to New Zealand for a series of concerts in July.

Christian City Youth completed a mini-tour of Australia’s East Coast in may, playing in brisbane, ballina, the sunshine coast and coffs harbour.
Over the course of the band’s history, they have garnered three number-one albums, six top 30 hits and an award for australian independent artist of the year (2003).