Critically lauded singer, songwriter and musician, as well as author, speaker, producer and daughter of a Syrian refugee, Audrey Assad internationally releases her second independent album, Inheritance, Feb 12 on Fortunate Fall Records with Tone Tree Music distribution. A collection of hymns and original songs that both pay homage to her childhood heritage and to her Catholic faith and charismatic spirituality.
Approaching this collection of songs with a sense of delicate appreciation balanced with artistic integrity, Audrey co-produces Inheritance with Daniel James (Canon Blue, Joy Williams, Among Savages). The resulting album projects a unique soundscape through a cinematic-styled approach featuring lush textures and wide, expansive rhythms that allow her voice to glide effortlessly over a diverse landscape of prayerful contemplation.
I knew that Inheritance had to be much more than me going into the studio and simply doing pretty renditions of hymns we all know and love, says Audrey. I couldn t be satisfied with that I had to make something both bright and dark colored honestly with my own doubts and weaknesses, so that the Lord who inspired these songs could be even more visible in it. Inheritance is an offering I am humbled, privileged and challenged to make and I pray it will be a gift to anyone who hears it.
In many ways, a hymns album is a return home for Audrey who grew up learning to sing in a Plymouth Brethren community. I was raised in a church where we didn t use any instruments on Sunday mornings, Audrey notes. I learned to sing there, from the old hymnbooks, in four-part harmony, with my family and my neighbors. It was multi-generational, it was deep and rich and beautiful, and like most of my favorite worship music, it was steeped in community.
All the songs on Inheritance infuse a modern sensibility with Audrey s influences to form something entirely new.