Sometimes you’re just too close to something to comment. Such was the case with acoustic-rocker Justin McRoberts a little more than a year ago when his first album, Reason for Living, released. People expected that his debut would reflect on his father’s tragic suicide the year before, but it only hinted at it.
But time, distance and, undoubtedly, the grace of God have given him some clarity. His sophomore album, appropriately titled Father, is a reflection on the grief, the growth and his realization that God’s love runs "deeper than my wounds, deeper than heritage... deeper than my soul, deeper than religion" (from "Always Deeper"). In "Standing in His Place (Father)" and "Aft
er My All," McRoberts sings of the loss of his father and how it has taught him to really see and depend on God. Other songs allude to the lessons learned in retrospect, the whys and hows of being a man of God.
He also delves beneath the surface to discuss doubt and humanity in real language, delivering it at times with a double-edged pen. One stellar, stinging example is "At the Cross" where McRoberts asks, "If I sit down with the wrong man and don’t cast my vote Republican, what will my brothers think of me… So I’ll meet you at the cross if that’s the only place we meet, it’s fine by me." Another is "A Man Like Me," a song about the "savage inequalities" in our world.
There are guest spots from Sarah Masen, Nichole Nordeman, Andrew Peterson and Garett Buell of Caedmon’s Call. But as good as those artists are, McRoberts doesn’t really need the help. Vulnerable, drenched in truth and yet unpredictably hopeful where it counts, Justin McRoberts’ Father is one for the collection.