Artist: Audrey Assad
Title: Death, Be Not Proud EP
Label: Fortunate Fall Records
Release Date: May 20, 2014
Reviewer: Jessica Cooper
Track Listing:
- Death, Be Not Proud
- Death in His Grave
- Lamb of God
- Receive
- Love Is Moving
Right off the bat, I’ll just say that the one thing that I most appreciate about Audrey Assad’s music is that the lyrics are not shallow. She really digs into the deep parts of a relationship with God, and it’s no surprise when you listen to anything she writes. She expresses spirituality in the most poetic ways. The other thing I really love is the composition style – it’s very ethereal and ambient and at that level of meditative tendency. All in all, it’s very provocative in the realm of thought and emotion.
What grabbed my attention about this EP is that she did a cover of one of my favorite John Mark McMillan songs, “Death in His Grave” – and to say I liked it would be an understatement. Obviously she sings it in a higher key, which is just incredibly beautiful (no surprise there, her voice is fantastic). And the composition of the song stays true to the original, but is still in line with her own sound.
The title track “Death, Be Not Proud”, as told by Audrey in an interview with Youth Specialties, is inspired by John Donne’s poem of the same title, and speaks of mortality, a concept she faced while writing the EP during her pregnancy and also walking with her husband through his battle with cancer.
Her expression of worship throughout the rest of the songs sheds light on honoring Jesus as the man and savior he was and is, telling of how the Church receives the message of Christ, and ultimately that love is what ties the Body together.
“Holiest treasure, Lord, you are / Fairest pleasure of our hearts / You will ever be our great desire.” – “Lamb of God”
“To the Father, to the Son, and to the Spirit be blessing, honor, glory, power, might, and majesty.” – “Receive”
“So we reach, we reach our hands to him / Just to touch, to touch the Healer’s hand / And we fall, we fall in worship / Our God is with us.” – “Love Is Moving”
Overall: This EP is a great little collection, showcasing the vast talent of Audrey Assad and her desire to not only know more of God, but to make God more known to others. It’s definitely something you should get for yourself. AND it’s super cheap. But mostly awesome. Get it on iTunes.
RIYL: John Mark McMillan, Bethany Dillon.