Assad is poised to release her first original album in nearly 4 years.Audrey Assad just dropped the first single, “Deliverer,” from her upcoming album, Evergreen. This will be her first album of original music in nearly four years. Her previous work, Inheritance, was a compilation of familiar hymns, which she did a marvelous job of making her own.
Assad revealed on her Pledge Music page that she had been experiencing difficulty writing songs for the last four years:
I’ve been writing a lot over the past year or so, after a long creative dry spell; spiritual and mental/emotional crises converged a few years ago and I found myself unable to pen anything about it for quite some time. I’m still on the road, but I’m a more whole person. Though I have what I would call a “wounded faith,” and probably always will, I found that even after it felt like everything had burned down around and inside of me, there were still a few insistent seedlings poking up through the ashes on the forest floor. I found that the tree of life is evergreen; and though my faith looks and feels very different than it used to, it still exists. It survives. I am still breathing. Even when belief seems dead, faith can still bloom.
The new tune features Assad’s soothing voice in a gentle melody over an almost frantic drum beat, which perfectly reflects the frustration of the artist over her recent struggles with her faith and her craft. Through the ethereal arrangement, Assad fervently chants “You’re my deliverer” in recognition of the love of God.
In an interview with Hallel.com, Audrey revealed a bit more about her struggles:
“Mostly, I believed that God only loved me because Jesus stepped in between us and God couldn’t see me anymore-this contributed to many years of a tormented and broken-down relationship with God, based mostly in fear and shame,” reveals Assad. “Imagine the deep healing that took place when I came to recognize that Jesus came not to defend us from God, but to display in His life, death and resurrection exactly who God has always been. Jesus is often called ‘Immanuel,’ which means ‘God with us.’
“When I looked at the ruins in my heart, I found Him there ‘preaching His gospel to the poor. He had been with me and within me all along, delivering me not from God, but from my own inner death.”
It’s always wonderful to hear of someone finding their way to God in the midst of a “wounded faith,” but it’s even better when that struggle leads to a full length Audrey Assad album. We are so glad that she is writing music again and fully expect to love every track of Evergreen, which is scheduled to be released February 23, 2018.
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