{"id":10413,"date":"2016-06-07T18:12:58","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T22:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?p=10413"},"modified":"2016-06-07T18:12:58","modified_gmt":"2016-06-07T22:12:58","slug":"sad-bible-songs-i-review-harrison-lemkes-fertile-crescent-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2016\/06\/sad-bible-songs-i-review-harrison-lemkes-fertile-crescent-blues.html","title":{"rendered":"Sad Bible Songs: I review Harrison Lemke’s “Fertile Crescent Blues”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

at First Things:<\/p>\n

\u201cChristian pop is unrelentingly cheerful.\u201d That was Leah Libresco\u2019s conclusion when she analyzed the frequency of positive and negative terms<\/a> (\u201cgrace\u201d vs. \u201csin,\u201d for example, or \u201clove\u201d vs. \u201cfear\u201d) in Billboard<\/em>\u2018s Christian pop top-50. Grace and love and life and light are all great things. But if your soul needs a smoke break from the endless Christian pep rally, a lay-me-down instead of yet another pick-me-up, Harrison Lemke\u2019s beautiful new album Fertile Crescent Blues<\/i> is what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

Fertile<\/i> is an album of nine songs inspired by the Book of Genesis. Lemke, an independent musician in Austin, TX, recorded the album in his duplex, and he plays all the instruments. It\u2019s an intimate recording, heavily influenced by artists like Sufjan Stevens and John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats. (Lemke\u2019s voice, a reedy instrument made for anger and surrender, takes about as much getting used to as Stevens\u2019s and Darnielle\u2019s.) Lemke\u2019s characters serve God\u2014most of the time, anyway\u2014even when they really don\u2019t know what it would mean to trust Him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

at First Things: \u201cChristian pop is unrelentingly cheerful.\u201d That was Leah Libresco\u2019s conclusion when she analyzed the frequency of positive and negative terms (\u201cgrace\u201d vs. \u201csin,\u201d for example, or \u201clove\u201d vs. \u201cfear\u201d) in Billboard\u2018s Christian pop top-50. Grace and love and life and light are all great things. But if your soul needs a smoke […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,7],"tags":[144,1276,11,131,30,104,271,235],"class_list":["post-10413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-mackerel-snapping","tag-and-if-my-prayer-go-unanswered-thats-okay","tag-harrison-lemke","tag-his-banner-over-me-was-love","tag-it-is-very-dark-you-are-likely-to-be-wrestled-by-an-angel","tag-mackerel-snapping-2","tag-mountain-goats","tag-sun-sex-sin-death-and-destruction","tag-twisty-little-passages"],"yoast_head":"\nSad Bible Songs: I review Harrison Lemke's "Fertile Crescent Blues"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"at First Things: "Christian pop is unrelentingly cheerful.\u201d That was Leah Libresco's conclusion when she analyzed the frequency of positive and negative\" \/>\n<meta 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