Integrity in reviewing requires me to point out that I've known Amy Courts since she was a kid and I was playing softball on our church team with her father. Now I stay with her and her husband Paul whenever I'm in Nashville. That said, I'd have to call These Cold and Rusted Lungs a tour de force of the singer/songwriter genre even if I'd never met her.
There's plenty of good music out there, but to combine it with quality lyrics and a good voice is more challenging, especially if you prefer a Christian worldview at the foundation. Amy's lyrics are about honesty and reality, not about sugar-coating life with a "Jesus love me" smile pasted on, and her degree in theology allows her to move deeper than mere platitudes.
Producer Neilson Hubbard captures the intimacy of Courts' art with a clean acoustic guitar-dominated approach on most songs that leaves her expressive voice as the focal point. The CD title comes from "Breathe," penned by Amy's husband Paul Koopman, who also lends his skillful guitar playing to the CD. "Breathe" is a desperate prayer for God to
take these cold and rusted lungs / make them breathe somehow / take this heart of plastic love / make it real somehow
That honesty appears throughout the project, including on songs like "Inevitable:"
I've been living a lie / because I don't want to face / what's been staring me down
"O Holy God" is a beautiful acapella hymn with sound theology reflecting Amy's background as a student of the Bible. "In You" is a quality worship song as well.
Since I like the rock side of music, I especially enjoy hearing Amy crank it up a little more on "The Liars" and "Shiver." The former addresses the liars who seek to plant seeds of doubt about our faith. "Shiver" captures Amy's feisty side perfectly, complementing the more contemplative thoughts on relationships found in songs like "Hold You Up."
Amy Courts continues to forge a path influenced by artists like Jennifer Knapp, Patty Griffin and Jonatha Brooke, but the end result is uniquely hers, a refreshingly authentic statement in a plastic world overrun with trite lyrics.
Visit Amy Courts.