Nine years. That\u2019s how long it\u2019s been since Margaret Becker\u2019s last full-length, all new, studio album. In that time, she left Sparrow Records, the only label she\u2019s ever recorded for, and went independent. Over the years, she has come to understand an essential truth about Christianity: we humans complicate it far more than is necessary. <\/p>\n
Of course, during those nine years Becker wasn\u2019t silent — far from it. She spoke at Christian women\u2019s conferences, recorded numerous group praise and worship albums, released Just Come In, <\/i>an album of five new songs and six re-recorded songs from previous albums, produced and championed other artists (particularly indie artists), and wrote books.<\/p>\n
Now she returns with Air<\/i>, a companion piece to her latest book, Coming Up For Air<\/i>. Becker, CCM\u2019s true Renaissance woman, has smashed expectations with this album, <\/i>turning out certainly one of the best projects in her impressive career — if not the best.<\/p>\n
The disc opens with \u201cComing Up For Air,\u201d and Becker gets right into her overall subject of rebirth and rejuvenation with these lines: \u201cBeen a really long time coming \/ You think I would have known \/ When you lay down on waves of worry \/ You wake with vertigo \/ Out of breath and short on everything it takes to go \/ I\u2019m coming up for air.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are no accidents on this disc. Becker writes, sings, and plays as if these songs, like air, are essential to her being, to her existence, and that emotional investment pays off repeatedly as each song sounds like a personal communication from her heart to the listeners\u2019. <\/p>\n
Musically, this is pop\/folk plus an atmosphere of soul; it\u2019s similar in sound to 1999\u2019s What Kind of Love<\/i>, but modernized to fit comfortably in today\u2019s musical landscape. Becker and her collaborators hue to the classic Maggie B sound, though less heavy on the rock and roll and more focused on the pop\/soul elements, following the same maturation process as her audience.<\/p>\n
Each song (with one possible exception, which I\u2019ll tackle later) on this disc is a highlight. \u201cSurrender\u201d encourages those who have tried everything else to \u201ctry something old and new like surrender \/ Let it all fall where it must and just trust, trust, trust.\u201d <\/p>\n
The beauty of Becker\u2019s songwriting is that it is infused with her Christian worldview. So much so that there\u2019s no need to take pains to indicate that she\u2019s writing about God. But on the other hand, there\u2019s also no doubt about her intent.<\/p>\n
But she can still write an obvious praise song as well. One such song is the gorgeous \u201cYou\u2019re Still God,\u201d which exalts God for his constancy despite all of the distractions and discouragements we face. Becker writes, \u201cMountains tremble when you least expect \/ I am shaking, I\u2019m a mess, but \/ You\u2019re still God, You\u2019re still God \/ I pray for comfort, I pray for rest \/ I lay down worried and I wake up blessed because \/ You\u2019re still God, You\u2019re still God.\u201d <\/p>\n
The song rides effortlessly over a bongo-styled beat, with Becker adding instrumentation as the song builds and builds and then backs off again in celebration and awe of the presence of God.<\/p>\n
The one song that is questionable? That would be the closer \u201cTo Be An Indian.\u201d Musically, it\u2019s beautiful, but lyrically it doesn\u2019t connect with me. It seems to be based on the idea that Indians are more closely connected to nature than others — and that seems a bit of a stereotype to me. <\/p>\n
Overall, Air <\/i>is an amazing return to form for Becker. It\u2019s a \u201cmust have\u201d for fans and as good of an introduction to her talents as any for those unfamiliar. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":29403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6221],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-40974","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-margaret-becker","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40974"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}