The Sleeping House

Ensconced on the artsier fringe of Christian rock, Cool Hand Luke makes music of intriguing texture and provocative substance. The band returns after a four-year absence with 2008’s The Sleeping House, a pensive but ultimately faith-affirming song collection. As in the past, singer/keyboardist/drummer Mark Nicks sets the tone for these tracks, which range from the icily atmospheric (“Fast Asleep”) to the nervously rhythmic (“The City Prevails”) and the dreamily jazzy (“The Incomprehensible Sleep”). The album’s critiques of modern materialism and selfishness are plaintive, with a bitter under-taste — “Cast Your Bread” scorns the riches of the world, while “The Mirror” dissects the shifting nature of identity. Nicks’ ghostly piano lines and guitarist Joey Holman’s feedback embroidery achieve an austere beauty on “Buy the Truth” and “Wide Awake.” If the band’s sonic surfaces often seem placid, their lyrics can churn with longing and torment. “The House,” for instance, cries out to the Lord in visceral language. If intelligent Christian rock with a chilly edge sounds inviting, The Sleeping House is worth checking out.