After ten months of planning and writing in the studio, recording, and a whirlwind joining of Anthem Lights in between, I'm finally ready to release my new full album project titled KANE.
I've shared samples of the songs the past six months on social media and my live video chats with all of you but have only released 3 of the songs from the project publicly. Any of you who have come to the Millennial Tour this past spring 2016 will have heard many of the new songs on this album. Some of you have purchased the 7 song EP from the new project from my online store but finally you'll get to hear the entire project when it releases on July 22, 2016.
I will be performing that night at SONSHINE FESTIVAL in Somerset Wisconsin just outside Minneapolis, MN. My hope is to have the new full CD available for the merch at that show and every personal concert from then on.
Here's the final playlist from the new CD:
- God Stole My Heart
- Love A Lil Bit
- Diagram
- You'll Be Alright ft. Adrion Butler
- New Level
- Breakthrough
- This Is Living ft. Alexis Slifer
- Betrayed
- We Win
- BONUS TRACK: Ghost ft. Izze
- BONUS TRACK: Heart Like You - (Stereodraft EDM Remix)
A quick summary of each song I wrote:
GOD STOLE MY HEART
I wrote this one with a lot of inspiration from Michael Jackson and Chris Brown vocals and music. The lyrics really discuss the importance of knowing that when your heart is full of junk and ugly sins, God wants to take that all away from you and replace the void with His love.
LOVE A LIL BIT
Probably the most fun track on my new project, this song gets pretty fun to sing along to because the hook is so easy to remember... the song title. Yes, I do actually rap in this song toward the end, so get ready. The lyrics talk a lot about how the world knows we are Christians by how we show love to one another. People get confused when we choose to love on people instead of judge them or hate them or try to put our religious rules on them. This song is about just LOVING people the way God asks us to.
DIAGRAM
The last song written for this album but one of my favorites because it has a really laid back and R&B vibe. The lyrics just talk about how sometimes we need God to draw it out for us and reveal His plan in our life.
YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT
This is a TURN UP song and is fun in concert. I hope you feel the flow when you listen cause it's like an anthem about stop worrying. God really wants us to know when you trust Him and focus on Him, it will truly be alright.
NEW LEVEL
Most of you have already heard this one and it's probably my favorite vocal track on the project cause it's just so smooth and reminds me of a song you'd play with the top down on your car and just cruisin. When I give in to God and set my will aside, I find that He lifts me up to a new level and puts me in a new setting to represent Him to the world. This song is about being ready to be taken to new levels in Christ.
BREAKTHROUGH
This song is exciting for me because I wrote 100% of the lyrics and had the great experience to work with Doug from We Are Leo to produce it in Chicago. This song is very Maroon 5 inspired and the lyrics just talk about how we can overcome our past and experience a breakthrough when God is involved in your life. We sometimes have habits and things we cling to instead of God but when we focus on Him, we can experience a breakthrough.
THIS IS LIVING
I loved recording this cover of Hillsong Young and Free but having it rearranged like a worship song. The lyrics are truly amazing and it was such a great end result with Alexis singing on the track.
BETRAYED
This song was actually written by request of a film maker who considered it for a soundtrack. Unfortunately it wasn't chosen in the end, but I still like the song anyway. It's a bit out of my comfort zone as far as style, but it's a very simple ballad-like worship song that explains the amazing grace of our Lord when we mess up.
WE WIN
This song is probably my favorite LIVE song to perform now because it's just so unique. It's both a Turn Up and Praise and Worship track all in one. The Bible tells us that Jesus causes us to Triumph (win) and sometimes when we are slammed with a trial or major setback in our natural life, we can get discouraged. But the truth is that we should never forget WHO'S team we are on and that in the end... WE WIN.
GHOST
This song was released a few months back as a free download for the first 100 people to get it. I wrote this song pretty quickly and it just flowed well. The lyrics are metaphorical because once we become forgiven in Christ, we are no longer the person we use to be. That old life is a ghost that no longer lives.
HEART LIKE YOU (remix)
This is a great dance remix of the song from my last album. Nothing changed lyrically, but DJ's will probably like to play this in the clubs.
So that's it. I can't wait for you all to hear the NEW me. KANE is a complete project that represents my current creative flow and how I want to be in the Christian music industry. Most of you don't realize my last album RUNWAY was mostly written and recorded 4 years ago but it took a while to release everything. So many of those songs were when I was 15 years old and a LOT has changed since then in my vocals and music style.
I love you all and thank you for your extreme patience while we worked on this project in between my new passion of being involved with Anthem Lights. God is so good!
