Christopher Owens performs as the lead singer of the band Girls at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 20, 2012 in Indio, Calif. (Courtesy Jason Persse/Wikimedia Commons)
It’s easy to get caught up in trying to understand the mindset of Christopher Owens when listening to his music. Each artistic endeavor seems to differ from the last.
As the frontman for Girls, Owens helped with the creation of songs ranging from pop to melancholic lo-fi ballads. But the fun didn’t last long; the group disbanded in 2012. In 2013, Owens was back with the solo album “Lysandre.” His debut mirrored the slower, ballad-esque tracks from Girls’ albums.
“A New Testament” is a marked change from other Owens releases. A combination of country, gospel and pop, this album prompts the listener to wonder what is going on inside this musician’s head. Owens was raised in the religious cult Children of God. With this background in mind, his choice of a gospel-tinged album is particularly interesting.
The song “Stephen,” which was released on a two-song EP weeks prior to the formal release of “A New Testament,” is one of the more gospel-influenced tracks and indirectly mentions the name of the infamous cult with the lyrics “Someone’s a family with children of God/But all that we wanted was our father’s love.”
Owens’ dopey voice stands in contrast with the predominantly country-pop tunes on the album. While this in itself may lead to questioning if any irony is infused with the songs, “A New Testament” seems to be an honest attempt by Owens to define himself as an artist.
Tracks like “A Heart Akin The World” lead to a modern Willie Nelson comparison, with achy-breaky chords and upbeat-wanderer inspired lyrics. “Nobody’s Business” is reminiscent of Girls, but with more splayed out instrumentation and a slower tempo. “A New Testament” sees the main components of the Girls discography and Owens’ previous solo work, namely upbeat pop and slow ballads.
Taking his background of pop and singer-songwriter styled tracks, Owens blended them to create similarly structured songs with the added infusion of gospel and country. “My Troubled Heart” personifies this sentiment, and even had a background choir to bring the song home.
Although the songs on the new album are sanguine, the lyrics relate to complicated relationships and an attempt to connect to something bigger. At first the album feels foreign to what has come to be expected from Owens, but further listening leads to the realization that “A New Testament” is a perfectly logical work to be released.
“A New Testament” reiterated Owens’ style in a respectful reappropriation of the genres he takes on. While differing from previous endeavors, this latest album is a continuation of the artist’s soul-searching, an inherently upbeat work that has proven endearing.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Kate Siem at Kate.siem@colorado.edu.
