Good contemporary Christian music can be a bit like buses.
You wait ages for one and then two come along at once. This was the case in February 2018 which saw the release of new albums of original material by American singer-songwriters Audrey Assad and Sandra McCracken. Coming from separate seasons of struggle, doubt and sorrow, Assad’s Evergreen and McCracken’s Songs from the Valley both carry patterns from the Psalms into different styles of contemporary music, both concluding, in their own ways, to ‘not let the darkness have the final cadence’.
Evergreen
Assad’s Evergreen is best heard in full, playing out as a whole story. Between several tracks there’s no pause or break, but a piano riff leading seamlessly from one song to the next, carrying its themes into a new light. This not only compels the listener to continue hearing how the story of justice, mercy or doubt will play out in the next chapter, but also cleverly mimics life itself and the way we cannot neatly deal with one thing before the next comes along.
