The New Frontiers hit below the surface on "Mending"

The New Frontiers have created a beautiful disguise with their first full-length release "Mending." Approachable music masks the intensely introspective lyrics, and the two concepts harmonize magically.

This is an album you don't play once and forget. Rather, if you listen to the words, you'll rediscover the album with each listen. A new meaning to each song or a line you may have missed before.

Frontman Nathan Pettijohn is credited for most of the lyrics on the album, and they were likely written from personal moments in his own life, but all can relate to his words. What strikes the listener at a particular time all depends on what they feel at that moment.

Fear, loss, doubt, love and hesitation are captured in the album's 10 tracks. The New Frontiers connect with listeners on the deepest level any musician could hope to achieve. The album pours from the heart and in that vulnerability it makes an intimate connection with those who give in and listen with their hearts too.

On "The Day You Fell Apart," Pettijohn sings, "With your head up high would you try/try to place your feet back on the ground/I've found that it's easier to hide in the cold, alone/Unraveled since the day you fell apart/But honey, I'm alive." It's an admission of pain, but with that comes acceptance that he's doing the best he can. He's making it and encouraging someone else to do the same.

"Mirrors" speaks a similar tale, "They will rob you blind/They will take your peace of mind/And you'll want to run away from here/But I know you can't escape from all of your fears/I made my peace with the world and all that it brings/I'm holding my own."

But possibly my favorite song is the album's final track, "Who Will Give Us Love." It's the only song on the album written by guitarist Jacob Chaney, and it comes from a different perspective than the album's other tracks. "I hope Jesus is the one/But what if we're wrong and he doesn't come/Who will give us love?" I love the honesty in his words. We're all waiting for someone to love us -- a savior -- without thinking much of the love we're asked to give. The lyrics simultaneously discuss faith and doubt.

The album is accurately titled "Mending" because that's what it does for listeners. It painfully digs into our hidden and vulnerable places and through facing life's dark spots comes healing.