Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Tuesday Tunes

Singer/songwriter Audrey Assad, originally a Jersey girl, weaves her captivating voice into a thread of contemplative yet accessible music and lyrics on her release The House You’re Building, one of my top 10 albums of 2010. "A lot of new artists come and go quickly in this business,” says Charlie Lowell of Jars of Clay. “Audrey Assad will not be one of those. She's a refreshing artist--a voice comforting and challenging together. Her melodic sensibilities are infectious, and she communicates God's caring and creative heart in a way that cuts through the day-to-day mess of life. It will be a privilege to share the stage with Audrey, and to watch her grow as an artist over the years."

 I got the great opportunity to interview GMA’s Dove Award-nominated new artist and female vocalist of the year Audrey Assad about her current single, “Restless.” Please share the background that led you to write the song "Restless." I co-wrote the song with Matt Maher, and it comes from St. Augustine’s Confessions, in particular his famous line, “our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” We could barely sing it that afternoon without bursting into tears. There’s something about that statement that feels primordial—as though all of humanity has been singing it throughout the centuries in some form or another. I always point back to U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

Even people of faith, if we are completely and soul-searchingly honest, surely must admit that even if we believe, there are some ways in which our hearts are never at rest. This, C.S. Lewis so adeptly explains, must be because we are made for another world. And not only are we made for another world, but we are made for God—created to find our home in Him. He is our first beginning and our last end, and we are restless until we rest in Him. If there’s any song I have that’s relevant to this generation it’s this one. We are so restless and transient and spread across so many social networks. Our relationships have increased in numbers and decreased in depth.