Kris Allen is getting closer to releasing his 3rd post Idol studio album. But he’s not going to tell you the details just yet.
Instead, the American Idol season 8 winner has let loose a torrent of thoughts on the process and experience of working on new music as an independent–free from major label oversight. Kris shares a very personal journey in his new blog. Check it out below. Reprinted from his official website.
Time to Listen
In my experience of putting out the last two records there has always been this calm-before-the-storm-like period. This is the time where the music is finished and all of the things leading up to the release are being put into motion. It’s also the time where I get really antsy and want to give you the music for free. Don’t think I’d last very long doing this occupation if I did that though. (Or would I?)Well, that time is now.
I’m at the point where it’s difficult to make you guys wait any longer to hear the new music! But since I have to exercise this thing called patience, I thought for the time being I would give you a little piece of an overall theme that was rolling around in my mind while I was making this record.
Listen.
It seems like such an easy thing to do, right? Well, I’m not talking about listening to your friend when you guys are chatting, or listening to a loved one when they are expressing something that they feel. While those types of listening are really important, I’m talking about a different kind. I don’t really know how to explain it other than to share some of the things that I’ve tried to do through the process of this project.
Some of you may know I decided to make this record independently. As exciting as that has been, it also comes with its own set of challenges. I knew from the very beginning that I was going to have to do things differently this time around. And something told me that I needed to listen more. Listen to the things that were happening around me that could point me in the right direction and eventually shape this record.
It started one night while I couldn’t fall asleep because this unborn song kept playing in my head. Lyrics. Melody. The whole thing. I tried to ignore it but I thought maybe I should do something about it. So, I got out of bed, grabbed my guitar and wrote down the song that had been keeping me up. It became one of my favorites on the new record and is called “Beautiful & Wild.”
And then sometime last year my good friend Adam gave me the info for a producer that he thought would be a good fit for this project. I thought about it for a while and convinced myself that this guy would probably never want to work with me. I felt like a teenage boy hoping to ask out a pretty girl at school. But I ended up emailing him that night anyways. Charlie Peacock responded immediately. He invited me to his house the next day and we talked for a while. A couple of months later I had the best experience of my career making a record with him.
When the time is right I will let you in on the name of the album but I’ll tell you that it was just a word that kept coming up in relation to the music that I was making. I had no idea what it meant and how it pertained, but it stuck. Now I feel like it means so much and makes absolute sense.
While we were making the record, I decided I needed to listen more intently to the music I love and find out exactly what it was that made me love particular songs. A really dove into the details of the lyrics and melodies, the production and instrumentation, the way that certain artists use their voices. It’s amazing the things you can find in a song when you actually search. When you really listen.
Maybe the crazy voices in my head are starting to speak more at a yell these days. Or maybe God finally got my attention. But I think more than anything I just started to listen. And in the end I couldn’t be more proud of what has come out of it.
-Kris
*Photo by Brenton Little (@brenton_clarke)
