Half-handed Cloud_s third album for Asthmatic Kitty, nThy is a Word and Feet Need Lamps² delivers an enlightening new collection of signature songs by singer/songwriter/ multi-instrumentalist John Ringhofer.

HHC_s first two full-length albums, nLearning About Your Scale (2001)² and nWe Haven_t Just Been Told, We Have Been Loved (2002)² left critics struggling to draw comparisons with other artists, but there is really no one quite like HHC.

nThy...² features guitars, cellos, pianos, breathy church organs, woodwinds, brass, non-instrument sounds, an eight-person choir, and various percussion, recorded almost entirely in a church sanctuary.

The narrative songs of nThy is a WordS² revisit Bible verses and stories- mostly Old Testament- that you may not have heard in Sunday school.

Why recount the murder, mayhem, and sordid situations in The Book? Because as a whole it covers the entire spectrum of life, good and bad.

Ringhofer, never didactic in his work, refrains from drawing conclusions, but subtly and cinematically directs listener_s eyes and ears to the space between the words, leaving interpretation up to them.