A New Album is Brewing!
Sorry if I've seemed a bit silent since my last release in August. Call it a pregnant pause.
My 2018 has been a mad, messy pile of God-incidences, chance meetings and miraculous provisions. It’s like every person, every project fell onto a page seemingly at random, and as the end of the year approaches I’m stepping back and seeing a shape emerging between the dots.
For instance, when I saw Bristolian Matt Hurley perform at Sunday Night Live in Cirencester, it was the first and only time I have been available to go along (aside from singing myself!) since Sundays at Stoneys launched. We didn’t get a chance to chat though, so it was amazing to meet again randomly at a songwriter’s retreat I happened to attend after being invited by Andy Baker – who I was introduced to through a mutual friend like a year ago. Fast forward to now, and that stranger from Bristol and I are now co-writing a song together, and it’s the most excited I’ve felt about a song in ages.
Then there’s Abhinav Revis. The first time I met the extraordinary director, he tells me now, he knew right away that we’d be working together in the future. He was right, and we went on to create the Journey On music video, which has reached and encouraged around 18,000 people to date. The song itself seemed to ‘land’ with me in bizarre circumstances; after lying dormant for some time until suddenly all the resources and team were available to bring it to life.
That’s just two examples. I could tell you about SO many others, but this is a blog about one in particular…
Mountains.
A year after I released my debut EP, a new portfolio of powerful music is coming together, all sharing a unified message of perseverance, holding on to God in the storm, and trusting him to move the mountains.
Journey On told us not to be discouraged by the twists and turns we may be facing, but to remember how far we’ve come, keep on pushing forward and to ‘journey on’ to the finish line. I Am Safe, a new song by Dave Wheeler and Philippa Hanna (cooking in the Resound Media kitchen RIGHT NOW) wrestles with our fear when we’re surrounded by storms; declaring that our God can calm the wind and waves and that when we follow Him, we are safe, whatever comes. One More Mountain (currently a silhouette in the distance, coming into focus in 2019) is written for that person fighting an uphill battle with no sign of breakthrough, and reminds us to look past the mountain and see God – nothing is impossible for Him.
There’s another EIGHT tracks in various stages right now that all feed into the same powerful narrative. I am surrounded by songs that take on giants!
I think this means God is drawing an album out of our random little team. It might still take some months to finish and launch, but the exciting news is that He is behind it all, inspiring the writers and bringing the right people together in a wonderful, chaotic, God-incidence-y, dot-to-dot of music!
So listen up. The next few songs you’ll hear from me will be anthems of encouragement through the parts of life that just seem impossible and unending. I think there’s potential for such healing and ministry in them, and I can’t wait to release them into the stratosphere. Watch this space, world.
