Martyn Joseph

I'm speaking to Martyn Joseph today about his new CD "Vegas". Martyn sent out an email to say that journalists weren't to call him a "Christian singer songwriter", just a "singer songwriter who happens to have a faith".

I know what he means: it's awful to be labelled and put in a box. Martyn doesn't want to be seen as a "CCM artist" in a narrow way. But should he be so sensitive about being called "Christian"? I don't see myself as someone who "happens to have a faith", but someone whose faith in Jesus is integral to all I do: my professional life and my personal life.

The CD by the way is glorious: gentle yet insistent, with songs that yearn for a better world whilst being committed to transforming this world. I love the song "coming down" and the anti-war anthem "the fading of light".