While many Contemporary Christian Music artists are largely overlooked by the secular market, there are those artists who manage to make that breakthrough and touch the lives of listeners who would not normally tune into any type of praise music. Audrey Assad is one of those artists. Since her 2010 full-length debut, THE HOUSE YOU’RE BUILDING, she has released a series of albums that balance the joy of her faith with the trials of being human. EVERGREEN, her 2018 album, continues that musical journey in the most pure and honest way.

“Faith and belief are not things that come easily to me at all. It’s become one of the battles of my life to not feel ashamed about that,” states Audrey. “I lose my faith a lot, and find it over-and-over again,” The best picture I can come up with to describe what’s it’s like is that sometimes when I look inside my heart, it looks like a burned-out forest –bare branches everywhere and destruction. But there’s always a tree in the middle and it’s evergreen. It’s the tree of life. That’s what I hold onto when I’m feeling lost. ‘Drawn to You’ is a song about what I find at the bottom of the pile of my fears, my anxiety, my belief and my unbelief; I find that, at the end of every day, in every season, I am still drawn to God.”

EVERGREEN might sound haunting at times, yet the core message is hopeful. The blend of acoustic instruments with electronics creates a warmth that is ultimately inviting. From the production to the arrangements, this is an album that is modern and commercially appealing. However, it doesn’t cater to any style or genre. With faint hints of  Top 40 Pop, Trip Hop, Rock, Gospel, Electronica, and Folk, this is an album with roots that go far deeper than most contemporary albums – Christian or otherwise. It is, ironically enough, EVERGREEN!