Catholic singing artist Alanna-Marie Boudreau does not want her songs to be labelled as "Christian music," but she does hope that people who listen to her songs will be inspired to open their hearts to God.
Speaking to the Catholic News Agency about her new album "Hints and Guesses," Boudreau said beauty can be found in "truly good" forms of art.
"My desire with this music and this album is to reach anybody, anywhere and hopefully open their hearts to the reality that transfiguration and transformation is real," the singer and songwriter said.
Growing up, Boudreau said her parents made sure she and her siblings are exposed to "the transcendental truth, goodness and beauty" through beautiful literature and art.
"It was a very natural part of the fabric of our life and it was interwoven with a really sacramental understanding of life and of family," she said. "The faith, it always fit like a hand in the glove with our upbringing and with our education."
Boudreau said everybody is affected by beauty, no matter what they might have experienced in life. And when people are exposed to beauty, the singer said their hearts are already "in a very good position to hear God."
Her music might share her faith, but Boudreau said she does not want her songs to be labelled as Christian music because a lot of people are wary about the genre and do not even consider listening to it.
"I'm a Catholic woman and that affects the way that I write and the way that I understand the world, but I have noticed there's a tendency when people hear about a label like 'Christian' they misunderstand it, so they feel threatened by it and they close their hearts to it," she said.
But when people listen to her music, Boudreau is confident they will feel their hearts lift up to the Lord.
"I hope that the album would act kind of as a question mark for them – that it would bring up certain things or inspire certain movements that would make them examine things a little more deeply – to have a more examined life and to ask those big questions, whether it has to do with relationships, inner healing, if it has to do with seeking God more ardently, or if it has to do with just being more receptive to life in general," she said.
