Letting Go

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Jennifer Knapp put her Christian rock career on "hiatus" in 2003, inciting a flurry of rumors and speculations, one of which, concerning her sexuality, turned out to be true. While coming out in the secular music world is hardly earth-shattering, the CCM community can be a bit less forgiving. Her spirited 2010 comeback album dutifully addresses both parties. The appropriately titled Letting Go comes out swinging with "Dive In," a feisty, twangy rocker that cautions "Careful what you say/Careful who might hear/Someone else inside the universe could write it down and you'll be hearing it for years," but anger soon gives way to acceptance with the lovely "Want for Nothing" and "On Love." Throughout the remainder of the record, Knapp claws her way through to truths both cathartic and disappointing, all the while maintaining an engaging, wounded swagger and a radio-ready sheen that brings to mind contemporaries like Brandi Carlile and Kathleen Edwards. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi