When crafting their third album, the guys of Everyday Sunday wanted to create something special.
“We took a lot of time between the last album and the new one and really wanted to make sure we took time to do everything right and to make a record that we’re really proud of,” lead vocalist Trey Pearson said.
“… We had to take the time to find our focus on who we wanted to be as a band.”
The work resulted in last month’s release of “Wake Up! Wake Up!,” which has already put two singles on R&R’s Christian rock radio charts.
“They’re the first two No. 1 singles we’ve had and we’re super excited about what God’s doing with this album,” Pearson said.
In its latest disc, the band from Columbus, Ohio, delivers power pop and modern rock with plenty of catchy hooks. It’s not really a big departure from the band’s earlier work — 2002’s “Stand Up” and 2004’s “Anthems for the Imperfect,” which had a raw, untamed feeling that delivered quite a few pleasant surprises. However, it does come across as more tightly focused, musically and lyrically.
The two radio hits — the energetic title track and the mellower “Find Me Tonight” — deal with budding relationships with God. The first urges awaking to God’s plan for life and the second calls out for rescue.
“At least half the record is very much directed toward our relationship with God, or our relationship with God as Christians,” Pearson said.
Other songs with this emphasis include the worshipful “Tell Me You’ll Be There,” which asks for assurance of God’s presence, and the fast-paced “What We’re Here For,” which emphasizes that praise is more important than catchy hooks.
“I think you’ll see a whole range of emotions and just different things that we go through in life,” Pearson said.
Many of those emotions revolve around those of us here on earth.
The disc opens with “Let’s Go Back,” which urges overcoming problems and rebuilding a relationship. The assertive “Apathy for Apologies” targets a friend who continually lets others down. “Now You’re Gone” describes the heartache of a friend walking away — but holds out hope for a return. And “I’ll Get Over It” is an “over-emotional” song about a guy getting dumped.
“There are certain songs about seeing friends who live their lives in some places where you know they’re not happy but they continue to keep themselves in that spot,” Pearson said. “… You’ll see that but you’ll still see a lot of hope in a lot of the songs.”
Pearson, who wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on the disc, said that he hopes the songs prove encouraging to listeners.
“When I write, I try to be honest about what I’m writing about and try to write in a way that … hopefully other people who are going through these same things can relate to it and connect to it,” Pearson said.
On the Web: www.everydaysunday.com
Today’s Praise is a roundup of news and reviews from the contemporary Christian music industry.
