Comfort my people

FEATURE HOST INTRO:

HOST COMMENT:

MUSIC: [“SIRENS”]

STEVE WEST: Praise Lubangu had the great blessing of growing up in a Christian family, the child of Congolese immigrants, but in her early teen years there were other voices competing for her attention, like her peers or those in the media.

LUBANGU: Though I do have amazing parents, who were always speaking life and truth into me, because I was spending a lot more time outside of the home, those voices started to become a lot louder …

Eventually Lubangu joined a startup music distribution business helping independent artists gain a hearing for their music. She often collaborated with artists. But in October 2023 she released her debut album, titled In Times Like These. She describes it as growing out of an intense spiritual struggle in her family’s life triggered after her sister developed epilepsy.

MUSIC: [“BLEED”]

In an era of streaming music, many albums become simply a collection of singles. But the songs on In Times Like These are thoughtfully arranged and sequenced by their creator. Early songs work on a horizontal level connecting with human experience, while later songs train our gaze upward.

LUBANGU: So I really wanted to take the listener on a journey. It starts off with a lot of questions, a lot of doubt, but then there's a bit of a turning point in the middle. You can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel …

MUSIC: [“MAKE IT HOME”]

Both the album as a whole and individual songs have a psalm-like quality lyrically. Much like our prayers gain shape from the Psalmist’s movement from lament or longing to praise, these songs are rooted in human experience but come round to reminders of who God is.

MUSIC: [“MAKE IT HOME”]

LUBANGU: I thought it was necessary to have those songs where it just allows you to think “oh, there is someone else who thinks like I am, or yes, I am struggling at this time” — similar to the way David would pin things in the Psalms, you know, he starts off with “God, where are you” and ended “but yet, I will praise you.”

MUSIC: [“MAYBE”]

Placed right at the center of the album, the song “Maybe” represents a turning point for Lubangu—and for the listener.

MUSIC: [“MAYBE”]

LUBANGU: It was exactly one of those songs that provided a lot of healing for me. Even though I'm using words like “maybe,” I’m reminding myself of truth, reminding myself of who God is. And that his strength is made perfect in weakness.

MUSIC: [“MAYBE”]

In Times Like These draws from many sources musically and lyrically. It features a handful of other voices besides Lubangu's, including several performers. She also shares three encouraging voice recordings by her mom and friends, including one prayer and a vision with a charismatic flavor not all Christians will appreciate.

But we hear echoes of classic Christian voices, too, like London pastor Charles Spurgeon who wrote in one sermon, “I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the rock of ages.” That line inspired the words of Lubangu’s song, “Maybe.”

LUBANGU: During the time of COVID, I think, probably for a lot of us, we found ourselves asking a lot more questions and wanting to go deeper in our faith. I found that the more that I started to listen to these sermons and teachings and things like that, and also just spending more time privately in the word, things started to become a lot more clear and make sense.

The album climaxes with its final track, “Candlelight”, inspired by some imagery from a sermon by 17th century pastor Jonathan Edwards’.

MUSIC: [“CANDLELIGHT”]

LUBANGU: As the Word says, with him, there's no shadow of turning. “You make the sun look like candle light” is directly an inspiration from that Jonathan Edwards quote of, of how God is just infinitely better, there's no real competition there in terms of who God is and what we see in our lives today.

Produced independently, this album is another that has flown under the radar of reviewers and mainstream Christian music. Maybe that’s all the more reason to listen.

MUSIC: [“CANDLELIGHT”]

LUBANGU: I would love for people to know that the Lord is truly their father, that he wants to know what is on their heart. That's basically the aim of the project, and to know that their suffering is not in vain and that there is hope.

MUSIC: [“CANDLELIGHT”]

I’m Steve West.

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