Tony Cummings quizzed one of Christian music's most erudite communicators, JASON GRAY

"I remember a lyric from the song 'Skin' by the Vigilantes Of Love (one of my favourite bands of the '90s): 'If you're gonna come around here and say those sort of things/You gotta take a few on the chin/You talking about love and all that stuff/You better bring your thickest skin'. I wasn't prepared for the critical reaction to a song I wrote about 'love and all that stuff', but now I better understand it.

"'Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue' also features one of my most personal songs, 'The Golden Boy & The Prodigal' which is one of the best and most crafted songs I think I've ever written. Both this one and 'More Like Falling In Love' represent the extremes of what I hope to accomplish with my music and it was satisfying to me that they both fit on the same record."

'A Way To See In The Dark' continued Jason's deft blend of bitter sweet melodic invention and profound lyrical observation. It is to many observers, Jason included, the songsmith's best album so far. "I think it's both my most widely accessible and intimately personal record I've made. Two tracks are worth talking about here, I think. 'Remind Me Who I Am' is the first single and is a track that we tried to make musically distinctive, melodically infectious and lyrically emotive. It's a song about identity and is an idea I'm very passionate to talk about. We tried to take an important, theological concept - that we sin because we forget who we are - and make a song that anyone could relate to. And I think we got there! Musically it blends both organic acoustic sounds with quirky synth flourishes and it's unlike anything else I was hearing on the radio at the time. I have deep gratitude for how well it's been received.

"This record also features the best song I think I've ever written. It's a song I wrote with Andy Gullahorn and is called 'I Will Find A Way'. It's based on a very moving piece that author Walt Wangerin wrote about the mystery of the incarnation called An Advent Monologue. I'm grateful that we managed to make an album that is at once very commercial and very intimate. It feels like a gift to me."

Plans are now taking shape for a new Jason Gray album. "We're talking about me recording a Christmas album this spring so I'm trying to write songs for that right now - it's hard! Such a beloved genre, and everyone has an opinion about what Christmas songs ought to be. So we'll see. . ."

Cross Rhythms concluded its quizzing of this intelligent and thought provoking maker of music by discussing how we as music fans listen to popular music. Said Jason, "One thing that's been on my mind lately is developing a philosophy of music listening that is less self-centered. I think one of the worst uses of music is how we can rely on it to prop up our identity. Often times I'll get really passionate about a band I've discovered. The more obscure the band, the deeper my love for them is. I take pride in my discovery and love for their music. But then if they become hugely successful I lose interest. I think a lot of us do this because it's meaningful for us to feel like we've discovered something that others haven't - it makes us feel unique and special. But then once the band we loved becomes ubiquitous, we lose interest because it no longer gives us a sense of unique identity.

"It's a natural thing that I imagine we all do, and I don't know yet what the solution is (since it's something we do instinctively), but the way we consume bands until they don't serve our identity anymore feels bad, like we're just using these people and their gifts. It feels selfish. Music gives me so much life that I would like to be less selfish in my enjoyment of it, and I especially would like to cultivate a way of enjoying music that generously honours those who make it. So I guess as a parting shot with your readers I'll ask them to wonder with me what a more responsible, honouring and less self-centered music appreciation ethic might look like."