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MercyMe ditches covers album for original fare
11/16/2007 9:00 PM, Reuters
Deborah Evans Price
Most artists generally complete an
album, then decide on a title. But MercyMe frontman Bart
Millard said the opposite approach was key to "All That Is
Within Me," the band's new album.
"I always come up with the album title first and then start
writing songs around it," Millard said, noting that the new
project -- due November 20 via INO Records -- initially was
going to be a covers album of well-known worship songs.
As the band was about to enter the studio, they didn't have
any new material written and were in a bit of a panic, Millard
said. Then inspiration struck.
"We just started writing, and the next thing we knew we had
10 songs that we thought needed to be on the record," he said.
"We could have done the worship thing, but I really wanted to
get these out."
MercyMeOne is one of the most successful bands in the
Christian market; its four previous albums have been certified
gold or platinum. Though the Texas-based group has achieved
mainstream crossover success with several singles, most notably
the hit "I Can Only Imagine," Millard said the new release is a
return to the church-oriented fare that has been the band's
foundation.
"Our favorite moments in concert are any time we have the
crowd singing along in worship," Millard said, "and regardless
of what takes place at mainstream radio that's always what we
kind of evolve around -- songs of the church."
The first single, "God With Us," is already one of the
band's fastest-rising hits on Christian radio. Another track
that is garnering much attention is "Finally Home," which
Millard described as a sequel to "I Can Only Imagine," a song
he wrote about his father's death.
"I wish my dad could see all of this, because he passed
away in 1991 right before we started the band," said Millard,
who sees "Finally Home" as offering closure. "People always say
he's probably looking down from heaven, which I don't think is
the truth. I think he's got better things to do than stare at
me, but I think there will be a day that I finally get to see
him and talk about all of this."
Reuters/Billboard
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