Emily Elbert’s "God Is Change" is a heartfelt, spiritually infused anthem exploring grief, growth, and surrender. This track conveys intense emotion, subtle strength, and remarkable sound as the skilled guitarist draws on Octavia Butler’s profound insights, creating a cathartic and all-encompassing experience – a thoughtful and intricate meditation on impermanence, tranquility, resilience, and humanity's ability to adapt and transform.
To endure is to grow.
This is the essence of Elbert’s latest song, which contemplates transformation, resilience, and the sacred nature of surrender. Influenced by loss, nurtured by nature, and wrapped in spiritual introspection, “God Is Change” reflects on those pivotal moments in life that require us to release in order to evolve.
Through trials, loss, and doubt, we emerge transformed.
Elbert’s lyrics express this journey:
“God is change,
God is the wind,
I learn over and over again.
Tender rain and thunderstorms
Cleanse my soul ‘til I’m reborn.
Light my path and guide my hand
So I may hear the song of the land.
Offering up my heart in prayer,
Spirit moving everywhere.
Love sing through me,
Still my mind and move my body.
Love sing through me,
Help me to be free.”
Atwood Magazine is thrilled to debut "God Is Change," the luminous and insightful new single and music video from the genre-defying singer/songwriter and guitarist Emily Elbert. Released through Metropolitan Groove Merchants, “God Is Change” is Elbert’s first offering of 2025, continuing the intimate and reflective narrative style she showcased in her latest album, 2022’s Woven Together. A highly sought-after collaborator and recognized “guitarist’s guitarist,” Elbert’s impressive background includes touring with artists like Leon Bridges, Jacob Collier, and Jenny Lewis, as well as performances alongside Beyoncé, Gwen Stefani, and Esperanza Spalding – yet her solo work conveys a deeply personal narrative of its own.
With a sultry, soulful quality, “God Is Change” resonates with sorrow and breathes hope. Elbert’s passionate vocals ride over rhythmic guitars and driving drums, drenched in emotion. The song is raw and charged; it is both tender and profoundly moving. While it acknowledges the unavoidable nature of change, “God Is Change” embraces it fully, offering a balance of pain and tranquility. It speaks to themes of transformation and meaning, humility and healing – making it one of Elbert’s most poignant and masterful pieces to date. With this song, she conveys a spiritual surrender through music, crafting a compelling anthem that is both physically enchanting and emotionally deep.
Even amidst fatigue, my soul seeks to embrace the peeling layers.
Let me open up –
Both a gift and a lesson,
Even suffering uncovers paths to love.
Love, love.
For Elbert, “God is Change” embodies the painful, yet essential, journey of transformation and evolution. “I began writing it during a time of grief and uncertainty, searching for a way forward. Inspired by Octavia Butler’s words, ‘All that you touch, you change. All that you change changes you. The only lasting truth is change. God is change,’ these insights felt like soothing guidance. Writing this song was both an act of giving in and seeking support.”
This sense of yielding resonates throughout the piece. Elbert reflects, “In the chorus, ‘God is change, God is the wind, I learn over and over again,’ my voice resonates like a prayer or a mantra.” Her lyrics reflect deep spirituality: poetic, elemental, and personal. The line, “Feed my form into the flame, knowing I’ll be born again,” symbolizes release and renewal, acknowledging that pain and beauty coexist in the same sacred cycle. This realization is further deepened by the real-life context surrounding the song's creation.
“The song originated during a solo camping trip,” she shares. “In the solitude of the forest, I found it easier to access mental and spiritual calmness and hear nature and my intuition. While hiking, I paused with my journal, striving to let the song flow through me as freely as possible, and much of it came forth then.”
Weeks later, while traversing a well-known trail in the Angeles National Forest overlooking Altadena, the creative spark returned. “The line – ‘feed my form into the flame, knowing I’ll be born again’ – encapsulates a more intense emotional state. I wasn’t aware at the time, but months later, that forest, my home, and a significant part of my community were lost in the Eaton Fire.” Elbert experienced a personal tragedy as her home was among those destroyed in the blaze – a profound loss that added depth to the song’s meaning and infused its lyrics with genuine poignancy.
“In a striking twist of fate, this area
Lostboycrow's fourth album, 'The Sound of God Laughing,' combines musical innovation with emotional richness and personal narratives, encapsulating both the subtle and grand experiences of life.
The performance is scheduled to occur in Tufnell Park this summer, prior to the band's UK and European tour.
Emily Elbert's "God Is Change" is a heartfelt and spiritually infused anthem that explores themes of grief, growth, and surrender. It emanates deep emotion, subtle strength, and powerful sound as the talented guitarist interprets Octavia Butler’s insights into a profoundly cathartic experience. The piece serves as an intimate and detailed meditation on impermanence, personal tranquility, resilience, and humanity's ability to withstand and transform.