A Fresh Start
Christopher Owen’s previous effort Lysandre, an autobiographical album which told the story of Girls’ 2008 tour, played like a closing of books on his experience with his former band and that part of his life. His new record, appropriately titled A New Testament, is the beginning of a new musical chapter. The staple low-fi aesthetic and bite sized tunes of his previous studio work are still here, but the indie pop veneer has been stripped away, revealing country and gospel roots.
The lead track, “My Troubled Heart,” serves as both a stylistic and thematic hypothesis for the album. The inward looking nature of the lyrics found throughout this record are foreshadowed within the first 20 seconds of the song: “I ain’t got no god to whom I pray / no lord above to set me free / I keep my burdens right here with me.” When the acoustic guitar and vocals are joined by a church organ and gospel singers, the listener is initially taken aback, unsure whether their inclusion is callow cultural appropriation. Thankfully, by the end of the first track, it is clear that Owens’ use of traditional sounds is incredibly reverential while striving for authenticity.
While songs like “Nobody’s Business” and “Key to My Heart” are incredibly sweet and touching pop odes to love, they have a world-weary undercurrent. They’re not songs written out of starry-eyed puppy love, rather they’ve been written by someone who has been through real personal hardship and learned to find true happiness in the simple things.
“Stephen” is the most self-revealing song on the album. On the surface, it’s a mid-tempo gospel waltz that could easily be an outtake from a Paul Simon or Randy Newman recording session. Once you focus on the lyrics, you realize that Owens is telling the story of the death of his brother at age two, his father leaving his family, and the resulting effects of both those traumas. Everything is presented in the straightforward manner of someone whose wounds are finally beginning to heal.
The whole record feels like a new start for Owens, not just musically or professionally, but personally and emotionally as well. It feels like after much soul-searching and introspection, he’s found a new direction to explore.
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