Brooke Fraser

The assignment that we did on Bono before spring break reminded me off one of my favorite artists who I think approaches culture very similarly to Bono - Brooke Fraser. She is very popular in New Zealand (her home country) and becoming more popular in the U.S. Many of you who don't recognize her name may recognize her voice because she helps lead worship at Hillsong Church in Australia and has written some of the songs that have ended up on their worship albums (None but Jesus, Lead me to the Cross, Hosanna, Desert Song, etc.). However, she is an artist in her own right apart from Hillsong. Her non-worship music albums are not blatantly religious and she does not like to be called a  "Christian artist." But she strives to make music that contains truth and points people to the source of truth. I had the privilege of hearing her speak in person once when I went to a Hillsong conference in Florida. She talked alot about her ideas about Christianity and culture and the relationship between them. She mentioned she gets a lot of flack from the Christian community for not wanting to be called a "Christian artist" or not wanting to sign with a "Christian" label. Yet, the reason she feels this way is not because she wants to be a closet Christian, rather its because she thinks the labels of "Christian" and "secular" artist are both unhelpful and meaningless. She wants to be an artist who makes good art and is simultaneously a Christian, but not a Christian artist in the sense of being something antithetical to a secular artist. I really appreciate this idea and I really like Brooke Fraser's music. She is also really being on humanitarian efforts, which is cool.

Below I posted one of Fraser's newer singles "Something in the Water" and an older song called "Hosea's Wife." (Sorry the video is really dark on the second one) "Something in the Water" doesn't really have a whole lot of theological depth to it, but I think it showcases that Fraser is comfortable with doing music that isn't blatantly Christian. "Hosea's Wife" is a cool song because it alludes to biblical ideas and talks about a deep biblical truth without being overly religious. The basic idea is that we are all like Hosea's wife (unfaithful), but God still wants us back. At the workshop I went to Fraser mentioned a lot of non-Christian's have asked her what "Hosea's Wife" is about and she has been able to witness to them.