XIII Minutes confront the lasting damage of childhood mistreatment on their new single, “Seeing Is Deceiving.”
Released Aug. 28 through NRT Music, the song approaches that pain through a difficult question: What happens when someone who has learned not to trust people also struggles to trust God?
The Tulsa, Oklahoma, trio does not rush toward an easy answer. Instead, “Seeing Is Deceiving” gives the wounded person room to ask the question.
‘Seeing Is Deceiving’ Turns Pain Into a Conversation With God
The song is written from the perspective of someone carrying childhood wounds into a conversation with Christ.
That person hears Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28 to come to Him for rest. However, painful experience has made trust difficult.
“Would You care if I walked away? Do You know the price that I’ve had to pay?”
The questions continue as the narrator admits having trouble believing what God promises.
Rather than dismissing that struggle as a lack of faith, XIII Minutes allow it to become the center of the song.
At the same time, the band connects the subject to Jesus’ warnings about harming children in Matthew 18:5-6 and Luke 17:2.
That distinction is important. The song does not ask a wounded person to pretend the damage never happened. Instead, it takes the harm seriously while pointing toward the possibility of rest and healing in Christ.
XIII Minutes Match a Heavy Subject With a Heavy Sound
Musically, “Seeing Is Deceiving” gives the subject the weight the band believes it deserves.
Jerrod Cunningham handles vocals, while John Watson supplies guitar and backing vocals. Jamie Kucinski drives the track on drums.
Together, the three musicians build a sound that pulls from hard rock, alternative metal and metalcore.
The heaviness also serves a purpose beyond volume. Sharp guitar riffs, forceful drums and breakdowns reinforce the anger, confusion and emotional pressure inside the lyric.
That approach continues the direction XIII Minutes established on “Panic,” which arrived earlier this year through NRT Music.
However, “Seeing Is Deceiving” moves into darker territory by making broken trust itself the conflict.
The Song Leaves Space for Questions
Christian music sometimes moves quickly from pain to resolution. “Seeing Is Deceiving” takes a different route.
The narrator asks whether God cares. He questions what trust should look like after suffering. Most importantly, the song does not pretend those questions disappear because someone can quote the right Bible verse.
Still, XIII Minutes do not leave the story without hope.
The song ultimately points back toward Christ as someone different from the people who caused the original wounds. In that sense, healing begins not by denying what happened, but by learning where trust can safely be placed again.
That makes “Seeing Is Deceiving” more than another heavy single from XIII Minutes. It is a song about what faith can sound like when belief and pain are occupying the same room.