Known for her unusually poignant, poetic and honest songwriting, Indie-pop artist Christa Wells released her highly anticipated second solo album, How Emptiness Sings, on March 15. With a fan base that has come to expect nothing less than unaltered truth, Christa brings even more authenticity to her lyrics with her strong, soothing voice. With a strong musical background and a voice reminiscent of Sarah McLachlin and Sara Groves, Christa has a unique way of penetrating the soul one chord at a time. 

Christa is, in essence, a seeker of truth and a witness to the beauty that only God can own. She is many things to many people -- GMA 2006 Songwriter of the Year; writer of several hit songs, including most notably “Held,” Natalie Grant’s career-making cross-over single; co-writer to numerous Nashville artists such as Plumb and Point of Grace; wife and mother; an advocate for adoption, orphan care and poverty relief; a community builder; a major contributor to God’s church by way of her talents, her time, her friendly embrace.

I had the great opportunity to interview Christa about the title track from her brand new album, How Emptiness Sings.

Please share the background message of the song "How Emptiness Sings."

I’ll start at the beginning and give credit where it is due and tell you where the seed was planted. I have a friend who is a writer in Canada named Ann Voskamp. One day I was reading her blog about “How to hear God in the dark spaces.”

Everything Ann writes resonates with me, but that morning she was writing about singing worship with a guitar. She pointed out that the very hollow nature of a guitar allows the music and the sound to reverberate and the strings to vibrate. I remember I was reading it and was taking notes and knew I needed to write a song about that topic. Five minutes later I got an e-mail from Ann saying, “by the way in writing my blog post I was thinking of you.” I knew at that point that I had to write a song.

The song “How Emptiness Sings” is painting the picture of us as the instruments. Because I work with a violinist the instrument became a violin in my writing. The very places within us that are carved out for a purpose that we may not be fully aware of yet, that’s where God can sing through us if we listen. In her blog, Ann talks about how Words of Scripture are the strings. We tend to go here and there looking for ways to find reason in our heartache. Nothing can sing the way the Truth of Scripture sings in our lives.

What are some Bible verses you used in writing the song, or a life verse that connects to the song?

Philippians 1:20-22: "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!"

… and 1 Kings 3:9: “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

How can listeners apply that message when they listen to the song?

The first verse is about a man who has walked a hard road. The second verse is about a woman living a life of loneliness. They aren’t particular people in my life. They are so many people in my life. As a songwriter, over the past few years I’ve been privileged to be invited into people’s stories quite frequently. Especially because of my song “Held,” I learn about a lot of heartaches. I never know what to do for people. I believe in my heart and my gut that one day we’ll see the other side of pain and heartache. For now, I have to believe that it has to become our heart’s desire for God to be glorified in all things.

As I write music I don’t tend to have a particular Scripture verse in mind, but because I’ve been raised my whole life on the Bible, that’s my vocabulary and the material I draw my songs from. Solomon’s story has been inspiring to me the last few years. When asked what he desired from God, he asked for a discerning, wise heart. What we want to become the prayer of our hearts is that God will speak His wisdom and truth into our hearts. That way our desire will be for Him to be glorified and that our lives will be handed over to Him for life, for death, for gain, for heartache, for loss.

Here are the lyrics:

Brother, he’s suffered like a tree taken down
Wept as he witnessed his dreams carved out
And how can a man just keep walking around
With his heart full of holes

But ooh,
His bow is on the strings
And the tune resonates in the open space
To show us how emptiness sings:

Glory to God, Glory to God!
In fullness of wisdom,
He writes my story into his song,
My life for the glory of God.
Hmm, hmmm

Sister carries her loneliness
In a hidden hollow inside her chest
And sometimes all that she wants is an end
To the long, long night

But ooh,
Her bow is on the strings,
And the tune resonates in the open space
To show us how emptiness sings:

Glory to God, Glory to God!
In fullness of wisdom,
He writes my story into his song,
My life for the glory of God.
Hmm, hmmm

I haven’t been asked yet to walk the hard roads
Still there’s a sense of deep loss in my soul
In the middle of a party, I’ll just want to go
Home.

But ooh,
My bow is on the strings,
I’m beginning to learn where to find the words
To the song that emptiness sings
Ooh, bow is on the strings:

Glory to God! Glory to God!
This is how emptiness sings, oh,
This is how emptiness sings
Hmmm, hmmm

Here’s Matthew Henry’s commentary on Philippians 1:20-22: “After opening with something like ‘I trust this letter finds you well,’ letters between friends most often begin by catching the friend up on the writer's present situation. The same was true of friendship letters in the Greco-Roman world, which appeared often with the very words Paul uses here. This material was usually brief and sometimes made up the whole of a very brief letter. In the present case, however, this section is quite long and is thoroughly transformed by the gospel.

"What begins as a word to relieve the Philippians of anxiety evolves into a word about the current spread of the gospel, followed in turn by a reflection on Paul's desires and expectations regarding his forthcoming tribunal. One can scarcely miss the focus of Paul's concern, here and always: Christ and the gospel. His present imprisonment has ultimately been to the advantage of the gospel, which is cause for joy; his singular longing regarding his trial is that Christ will be magnified, whether through life or death; if it were to result in death (execution), that means he finally reaches the goal of his life--Christ himself--and if choice were his, he would go this route; but most likely the outcome will be life (freedom), which will cause the Philippians' own boasting to abound in Christ Jesus.”

For me, the standout experience of this stellar album is hanging on every note of the gorgeous title track, “How Emptiness Sings.” Christa beautifully phrases our worshipful response as followers of Jesus, “Glory to God, Glory to God! In fullness of wisdom, He writes my story into His song, My life for the glory of God.”

Her vocals are so amazing and the lyrics are so transparent and engaging, the song is my choice thus far for song of the year. I well up every time I listen to Christa gently singing, “I haven’t been asked yet to walk the hard roads, Still there’s a sense of deep loss in my soul, In the middle of a party, I’ll just want to go, Home.”

Let me just say this is one of the most captivating albums I’ve ever heard. Christa has a vocal sincerity and creativity that rivals Brooke Fraser, Audrey Assad, JJ Heller and Sara Groves, who are my top female vocalists of all time. I find myself praying and singing along with every single note. Do yourself a favor and pick up this song immediately. This song perfectly captures Paul’s heartfelt sentiment to the Philippians: “Have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” Amen.

(Check out the song here.)