Rising artist Anna Golden chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about her debut studio album “Peace: The Album.”
On the song selection process for the new album “Peace: The Album,” she said, “The selection was very particular for the theme of the album. Almost every song I wrote for this was written for the record, and there were only a few that we already had that fell in line with the theme. That’s something I do when I’m putting together a body of work. I have a theme, core scriptures, and create from there.”
Regarding her music and songwriting inspirations, she said, “So many things inspire me and there are so many artists that I love, like Bon Iver, Michael W. Smith, Lennon Stella, Julia Michaels, to name a few. There are so many random artists that really influence my sound right now. And honestly, pictures are very influential to me – I’m very visual when I write.”
She listed “Still God” as her personal favorite song on the album. “My favorite song literally changes every day,” she admitted. “I would say ‘Still God’ is probably the most personal and impactful song for me. When
I wrote it I remember putting it in on a voice memo and sitting in my car and listening to it over and over and just crying and thanking God for it because I really needed that song. I still listen to it almost every day.”
On being an artist in the digital age, she said, “I think there are so many benefits we have now. Comparative to the industry before, I mean, artists used to make a lot more money. But as far as access, there is more of a leveled playing ground. It’s not necessarily about who you know and what rooms you’re
in, but we have this access at our fingertips to really reach multitudes of people and I think that’s really cool. It gives a voice to a lot of creators that we probably never would’ve heard before. I think there’s a great advantage to it and I love it.”
Golden listed Bon Iver as the artist that she would love to someday work with as her dream collaboration choice in music. “Bon Iver is just incredible. I’m so influenced by his sound, his production. I can’t tell you how many times we listened to 22, A Million during the creation of the B-side of this record. And honestly, even the A-side! Anything he does is just so, so good and I know that if he did anything that was worship, it’d be out of this world.”
On her future plans, she said, “Touring hopefully! We’re trying to figure out a safe way to get these songs on the road and just worship with people. I think there’s obviously been this downtime and it’s given worshippers such a hunger for being back in the room and I’m super amped up for that. And honestly, I’m already working on my next album! I’m always writing. I already make a tracklist for my next record just yesterday, so yeah, I’m super amped about that as well.”
Regarding her definition of success, she said, “Overall, in life, success is peace and true happiness. I’ve been a kid of the industry for a long time, and I think a couple of years ago success would’ve been maybe a dollar sign or a little gold trophy but not at all anymore. True success is peace of mind, creating, and loving what you create. I always say the true sign of an artist is that the only thing that actually matters is the art, what you’re creating. If one person hears it or a million people, that’s just the sign of an artist. That you get out of it what you get out of it before anyone else can ever hear it. Success is just peace and happiness and loving your everyday life.”
She concluded about “Peace: The Album,” “This album is truly a one-size-fits-all – it’s for everyone. It’s for all music styles and tastes. The prayer for this album was a meeting place, this rendezvous, that the Lord wants to meet you where you are. There’s healing wrapped into it, there’s freedom, there’s deliverance, there’s so much peace and love and acceptance from the Lord and I believe that the listener will be able to get all of those things. It’s a one-stop-shop to just meet the Lord and He’ll meet you where you’re at.”
“Peace: The Album” is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
To learn more about Anna Golden and her new album, follow her on Instagram.
