Mac PowellThe distinctive voice of is a staple of the Christian musical genre, whether as part of his work with the Grammy-winning rock band Third Day or as a solo artist. Since Third Day’s farewell tour in 2018, however, Powell has had more time to focus on the latter part of his career. On Friday October 15th, Powell released his most recent solo album titled New creation.

“Even though I’ve been doing this for a long time, for me it’s a new direction,” Powell told American Songwriter, “and I’m doing it all over again. So therefore there is a feeling of a new creation. . It was a new process in the writing and in the recording process… I don’t have the same guys from my band playing on the album. There are different musicians and different producers that I don’t. have never worked before, and there is something exciting about it.

“I think every song has a different point of view, a different perspective, and different people who work on it,” Powell adds. “I think in the past I would have been afraid of that. I would have thought that there was no common thread and that the songs are different for different people and so it’s going to sound so disjointed, and yet I think my voice and my writing is what brings it all together and makes that everything is fine.

Each of the ten tracks of New creation fit together like pieces of a sound puzzle creating a picture of Powell’s abilities as an artist. Powell began bringing these songs to life with songwriters Jeff Pardo and Hank Bentley. “It ended up being [that] most, almost half of the record I’ve written with these guys, ”says Powell.

Then the first single that came to fruition, and the opening track for the record, is the sweet and moving “River Of Life”. Powell explains that another collaborator, Ethan Hulse, brought the idea for the song to the co-writing table and Powell then helped finish the track.

“It was the first time I’d ever said, ‘Alright, what’s the matter with you? What’s the idea that someone else has where it doesn’t start with me? »I am now finally at ease [to say] let me help someone else finish their song idea, ”Powell says of the first track.

Despite Powell’s new openness to the songwriting process, a significant part of his latest album is autobiographical. “Love Is The Reason” and “1991” are very personal to the artist as well as the title track of the record. “There’s a lot of truth in these songs,” says Powell, “as a songwriter you want that in most of your songs, but it comes out especially in this album.”

“‘1991’ definitely stands out because musically it’s so different from something I normally did. It’s a bit more 80’s and it gives a new vibe. [The song] actually scared me a bit when we first designed it because I was just like, “Okay, that’s too different for me, what my fans want to hear and what they want to hear. are used to it. ” Yet every time I played the demo for someone, people loved it. So I was like ‘Okay, maybe that isn’t that different.’ “

Other tracks like “The Center Of It All” and “Baptized” also stand out, but overall, New creation affirmed Powell’s new direction for the artist. “I want to continue to be an artist who shares my faith, who encourages the people in their lives, no matter where they are on their faith journey,” concludes Powell.

Listen to Mac Powell’s New creation below, and check the tour dates here.

Photo credit: Alex Ferrari