Shining a Light on Exceptional Christian Music

What I value most in music is genuineness—unpretentious musicians making music about how they really feel.  Honestly, I don’t want to hear about how much fun Fergie and Will. I. Am. have at clubs because, somehow, I feel like they’re lying to me.  They seem so sure partying makes everything good. The problems are still there, they just don’t choose to sing about them. This applies to some Christian music—not everything is always perfectly peachy inside.  Sometimes I’m confused about Christianity and I want to know that it’s normal to feel that way.  It’s honesty that’s missing.

There is something attractive about Christian bands that can be honest about problems they have with their faith.  Rue Royale is honest. From the first track to the last, this husband and wife combo cuts through superficiality and tells you the truth: “Everybody’s lost, they don’t know where to go and everybody’s trying to find another road.”  Brookln and Ruth Dekker’s debut album is comforting despite the harsh realism because they make you feel like you’re not alone.  We are all lost.  The album makes you feel like you’re not the only Christian that feels crazy for believing that God died to save our souls.  In ‘Lunacy’, they sing, “It’s a lunacy to believe that a single man would give his life for me with my photograph on his mind.”  He continues, “Is it reasonable to believe in a narrow path not every eye will see?  Is it fair that all the rest will die with fire?”

It’s nice to hear a Christian song that isn’t completely black and white about everything, leaving room for doubt—because it’s not wrong or weird to wonder every now and then.  But the whole album isn’t about doubt; there are also positive elements.  Rue Royal avoids cliché (that plagues most Christian music) when singing praise songs.  They show genuine joy in realizing that, despite the uncertainty we feel, God takes care of us.  In ‘Even in the Darkness’, Ruth and Brookln’s voices blend as they sing, “Oh, I will follow you, even in the darkness know you’re true” and then its just Ruth, “because I love your name, it is like honey on my mouth.”  Ruth’s voice is like a ghost, soft and faint, which embodies the atmospheric sound of the album. Plus she’s British, which is sweet.

The highlight of the album is ‘UFO’.  The song arguably has the clearest, catchiest melody of the album.  In ‘UFO’, Rue Royale compares the mystery of God to a flying saucer: “They call it what they want and they call it a savior but I don’t know what it was. UFO.”  The best poetry picks a fresh metaphor that stimulates imagination and makes the reader see something more clearly than before.  Comparing God to a UFO is good poetry: “I think I’ve yet to understand who you are.”  Nobody knows who God is really.  Theologians will list pages and pages of who they think God is, but God is eternal and we don’t understand eternal.  I applaud Rue Royale for being okay with not knowing.

Remember when you would crawl into your bed and your mom would throw blankets over you to tuck you in?  Well, Rue Royale is not as warm, but close.  I almost felt naked when I took off my headphones.  The album is completely acoustic with a home-recording feel.  The songs focus on build-ups and releases carried by the constant, driving acoustic strums, beating bass drums, and the tangling voices of Brookln and Ruth—they are honest.   Every song is layered with deep bass sounds, which create a relaxing ambience you don’t want to leave behind.

Sounds similar to: Colin Hay, Nick Drake, Fleetwood Mac, Low

Written by: Davy Long