This month’s Christianity Today features an interesting interview with (formerly) Christian indie-rock star David Bazan on his most recent release Curse Your Branches.

Bazan, one of Paste Magazine‘s 100 Greatest Living Songwriters, has been famous since the early aughts, after finding widespread cross-over support for his project Pedro the Lion. Curse Your Branches was called a break-up record in a recent cover story in the Chicago Reader, “except he’s dumping God, Jesus, and the evangelical life. It’s his first full-length solo album and also his most autobiographical effort: its drunken narratives, spasms of spiritual dissonance, and family tensions are all scenes from the recent past.” Christianity Today‘s review frames the work in different, more theological terms: “a brave, true, and personal album that bears witness to a struggle as old as Jacob’s wrestling match with the angel.”

Bazan himself, reflecting on his own public, musical debate with Christianity, says “It’s actually kind of embarrassing. I look up to people who have a rich thought life, but they don’t need to express their thoughts. But I’m not that way. Growing up, the book of James was really hard on me with its teaching to mind your tongue. So if there’s something on my mind, it’s coming out.”

Read the full interview here.