In his fifth album, Steadfast, Civilized Creature presents a series of “poetry and journal entries” that, through meditative lyrics and electronic instrumentation, explore the unfailing nature of Christ. Singer/songwriter Ryan Lane recorded the majority of Steadfast while moving from Portland, OR to his current home in Gig Harbor, WA. For three months, Lane lived in an apartment complex in Tacoma, WA, during which time Steadfast was born. Due to his limited recording space, Lane adopted a more electronic approach, using digital emulators of analog sounds native to 70s and 80s experimental electronica. The overall musical style wasn’t the only facet of the record shaped by this uncertain period of Lane’s life. “A number of the songs reflect some of my own inner musings and turmoils during a season of transition,” he says. The record’s centerpiece track, “The Unknown,” most prominently demonstrates these tensions. Faced with a number of uncontrollable circumstances, Lane found parallels between his own response to pressure and that of his children. He says, “I’ve noticed when my kids don’t want to deal with something, they just run helter skelter and I have to be very intentional to shift their focus and get that eye contact. And that’s where they suddenly still themselves and are able to receive what I have to tell them or give them. I’ve recognized that my heart does the same thing.” These ten tracks reflect a stilling and focusing of the heart on Christ, from the earnest plea for relief in the title track to the closing realization of God’s presence in “You Are.” “Leaning into my Savior, into the arms of Jesus is something I’m really sorting out and discovering in a deeper way,” Lane says. “A lot of this music was me just working out what that looks like.”