Christian music superstar TobyMac chatted about his highly-anticipated forthcoming studio album “Life After Death.”
He opened up about his forthcoming studio offering. “As I started working on the songs that make up the ‘Life after Death’ project, I had no idea where this dark valley would take me. I’ve always written songs from my own experiences. My life. The good, the bad, and the ugly of it. But up to now, although I have had my struggles, most of my writing came out of the good, because life was good. And I knew it was, I didn’t take it for granted, I was aware and counted my blessings,” TobyMac said.
“When We lost Tru, I had to work through my feelings and belief,” he admitted. “I had to respond to know that I was alive. A few days after his passing I wrote 21 years as a tribute to my beautiful firstborn son and to let God know just how I felt.”
“After a few weeks, I began thinking to myself, how will my family get through this? How can we possibly navigate this grief? I asked my daughter Marlee if she would want to try writing a song about our feelings and the pain that we were experiencing. And she said ‘yes’. Sometimes music can work like medicine, or writing words and melodies can be like therapy. I was just hoping for some togetherness at the piano and a song emerged called ‘Everything About you’,” he elaborated.
TobyMac continued, “I was still so numb a couple of months later, my heart broken and another song came out of my loss. It’s actually one of my favorites on the record, a song called ‘Faithfully’. I wrote ‘I may never be the same man but I’m a man who still believes’. I fought to believe the words as I wrote them, trying to speak trust into existence.”
“One day I thought to myself, I guess I will write songs from my sadness for the rest of my life. Sure, there’s no lack of faith in them but I don’t think I’ll ever write another up-tempo song. It’s just not in me anymore,” TobyMac said.
“And then I read a scripture that caught my attention,” he admitted. “I had never noticed it before and it spoke directly to my heart. It said God is rolling up his sleeves.”
“I couldn’t get the imagery out of my mind and it began to take root in my soul,” he added.
“Months later, while writing at a restaurant alone, I wrote on a napkin … ‘You’re still the goodness in my life’,” he expressed. “I knew that moment, it had to be a song. In all my pain and grief, the unexpected began to emerge. I didn’t think it was possible, and even though I will never be the same, it was undeniably a strand of joy. God didn’t leave. He remained. And I will forever be a different man. A saint is not someone who is good, a saint is someone who experiences the goodness of God.”
“I know that goodness, I have tasted it. And though it will always be messy I am now a believer in ‘Life After Death’,” he said.
“Life After Death” is available for pre-order on digital service providers by clicking here.
With more than 16 million units in career sales and a whopping seven Grammy Awards, TobyMac’s career continues on the fast track. His 2015 RIAA Certified Gold studio album, “This is Not a Test” garnered a Grammy Award and Billboard Music Award nomination on top of debuting at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200.
Each of his six studio solo albums have achieved gold certification, a first for any artist in the history of his label, Capitol Christian Music Group.
To learn more about Grammy winner TobyMac, follow him on Instagram, and visit his website.
