"I am dripping with humanity," Christine Glass sings on her debut Human, "I am a mystery of creation." As the title suggests, the album is an exploration of the frailties of the flesh, with Glass's thoughts couched in a variety of adult alternative styles--from the cool and breathy "I Believe" to the vibrant pop of "Waves" to the Ohio rock (Morella's Forest, Belly) of "You Want." She also stresses the importance of maintaining faith and integrity in a world that strives against you. In "I Believe," she sings, "I'm so very tired/ of being run down/ only because I'm a believer in God," but she sings it with weariness, not anger. It is a very reasonable position, and effectively emotional. There is resignation, as well, as in "Time Doesn't Heal All Wounds." She sings, "God cannot always say yes to you/ It doesn't mean He doesn't care." While much of this album is gloomy--in a philosophical sort of way--it is hardly one that ignores the hope of Christ. In "Shadows," Glass trusts that the Lord is watching her, even when she can't see Him. And in the song that closes the album, "When Worlds Collide," she agonizes over the war between the spirit and the flesh. As the Apostle Paul wrote, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," she prays, "When my world shatters in two/ Capture me to you." Like life itself, Human is an expression of darks and lights, faith and doubt, all the while trusting that the Lord is always there, waiting to help us sort it out.
