Biography:

For Nichole Nordeman—the two-time Dove Award-winning Female Vocalist of the Year and critically acclaimed songwriter who helped put the words "intelligent" and "introspective" back into the Christian music dictionary—the first 24 months as a new Mom left her both dazed and amazed, with little time for thinking, much less writing. So when her sabbatical from all things professional came to an end, the woman known for unforgettable songs like "Holy," "Every Season" and "Legacy" began to reach deep into her songwriter's heart. What emerged was unlike anything she'd created before.

Nichole's most recent album, Brave, reveals a bold, progressive leap for a very different Nichole Nordeman, an artist whose eyes and heart are open wider. A woman who has found the courage to take creative risks and, most of all, to speak the truth.

"Early in the process," Nichole says of her fourth album, "Brad [O'Donnell], my friend and A & R guy, said something that really inspired me. He said, 'Christians are somehow prone to talking more about where they've been instead of where they are. Very few people want to speak up while they are in process…They'd rather wait until their junk is resolved, so they can give a 'testimony' about the happy ending. As it relates to your writing, please don't feel the need to tie it up with a bow at the end."

And so that became Nichole's mission: to be as honest and truthful as three minutes would allow; to make every song count; and most of all, to spread her wings and fly formula-free. This time she drew not only from her own experience, but from the stories of those around her. "Life on the road had left my relationships somewhat neglected and withered. For a while, I had forgotten how to be a friend, it seems. But this sabbatical afforded me the luxury of leaning in to some people I love, walking with them through some tough stuff, and then writing about what God is doing in their lives."

The production, the music, and most certainly the songs themselves, all seemed to congregate under the same umbrella: the theme of facing your fears, gathering courage enough to step out of the boxed familiar… and into a brave new world.

The most obvious example is the title track and first single, "Brave," a joyful, energetic song Nichole wrote primarily for her son, Charlie. Although it was written for Charlie, she says, "It's the kind of song that anyone could sing, a universal declaration that says, 'You inform and affect my life in a way that make me feel like I could do anything.' Ultimately, we sing this to our Creator. He is the ultimate source of our courage and willingness to step out on the shakiest of branches. Philippians 4:13 was never more true for me than over the last couple years."

Other up-tempo songs like "Real To Me," and "Lay It Down (Song for a Prodigal)," may surprise listeners with their progressively modern sounds, but the lyrics here contain the same profound intuition and thoughtfulness we've all come to expect from Nichole.

And yet Nichole's fierce determination to raise the artistic bar doesn't, in any way, mean that Brave doesn't deliver the heart-bending ballads that have been the hallmark of her career. One need only listen to:

• "What If," a powerful song that dares to ask skeptical seekers to put their ideologies on hold long enough to consider that there's more to Jesus than what they've heard.

• "Hold On," with its ambient guitars and somber cadence, speaks the truth about the relentless love of God. "We talk about finding God, finding God, finding God," Nichole says of 'Hold On,' "but the truth is God finds us. It can be at the bottom of a bottle; it can be in a stranger's bed. You cannot get away from the love of Christ. There's no place you can go that He won't find you."

• "We Build," a song about the challenges of marriage, is leaving audiences in tears. "Anyone who's been married for more than a half an hour knows that it's really difficult," Nichole says, "but people, especially Christians, rarely talk about how hard it is. I can't even tell you how many people came up to me after I first sang this song live, one after another with tears streaming down their faces, saying 'thank you.' Not because I unlocked some deep, dark secret to the success of marriage, but because I simply admitted that some days love is a choice. A choice that means rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty and trusting God for the blueprints. Sometimes it just helps to hear 'me too.'"

In every note, every syllable of Brave, it is clear that without courage, real living is simply not possible. Like no other season in her life—in exploring the meaning of marriage, motherhood, music and more—Nichole is finding out that she's stronger than she thought. On any given day, she's standing on the ledge of the unknown, daring to trust herself and her God enough to step off and try out her new fledgling wings.