INDIE STALWART

Prolific indie mainstay Justin McRoberts scales things back on Deconstruction, his seventh album and fifth as an autonomous singer/songwriter. Unlike his previous opus, the striking Grace Must Wound, McRoberts steeps this new set of ruminations in an understated folk motif, not unlike the work of fellow faith travelers Derek Webb and Andrew Peterson.

The idea behind this low-key approach is to not distract from the disc’s overarching premise: the fragility of humanity when removed from the context of the divine. McRoberts is unafraid to take a stab at the world’s deep-set notions about religion, particularly the misconception that belief in God—not man’s self-sufficiency or misplaced affections—is to blame for the plight of this age. Naturally, tackling such a heady subject matter renders Deconstruction a somber, at-times glum disc: one can only take so much dissection of one’s own decadence without beginning to feel sorry for being caught in the human predicament.

But McRoberts doesn’t dwell on the now. Progressively, hope somehow begins to shine through, ultimately breaking forth in the expectant, near-apocalyptic “Until There Is No Tomorrow” and the declaratory “My Only Victory.” That last song is perhaps the closest thing to a battle cry on the entire record, as well as the best indicator that Deconstruction, in the main, is intended as a signpost for Christ—the quintessential example that a human was never meant to trust his own devices, but rather those of the One who sent him. –Andree Farias