Seven-time Grammy award winning Christian musician TobyMac (Toby McKeehan) is releasing his first album since the unexpected death of his first born son Truett (21), which took place in October 2019.
McKeehan’s new album, which drops Friday, August 19, is titled “Life After Death.” The album features 15 tracks, including already released hits “21 Years,” “Help Is On the Way (Maybe Midnight),” and “Promised Land.”
“Life After Death” also features collaborations with Sheryl Crow, Zach Williams, Tauren Wells, Blessing, Offor, Jon Reddick, Sarah Reeves, Cory Asbury, Terrian, Wande, his DC Talk brothers Kevin Max and Michael Tait, and his daughter Marlee.
McKeehan described his new album as a chronicle of the journey he’s been on the last two years.
“As most of you know, it’s been a hard, hard road for me the last couple of years,” McKeehan shared in a press release. “I began writing this record right after losing my first born son—the first few songs I wrote, 21 Years, Promised Land, and a song called Everything About You, were just really sad songs, lamenting songs, which you kind of would expect.”
After writing those three songs, McKeehan was asking himself, “Am I just going to live here? Is this my journey for the rest of my life?” However, the “Jesus Freak” shared that “God began giving me glimpses, starting with Help Is On the Way, I started to really stand on that promise, and really believe that help is on the way.”
One day, McKeehan wrote on a napkin, “You’re still the goodness in my life.” Later, he said that he “started to believe that,” realizing how God is good to him. The experience led him to write a song featuring Blessing Offor titled, “The Goodness.”
“It felt like a celebration, because I began to think about how gracious God is, and how He gives us little glimpses of His goodness, even in the valley,” McKeehan said. “Then I read a quote, and it led to a lot of the lyrics in this song, it said, ‘a saint is not someone who is good, but someone who experiences the goodness of God.’ I have experienced the goodness of God my whole life. There is LIFE AFTER DEATH.”
TobyMac will hit the road with his Diverse City bandmate Terrian in September to support his new album, which releases this Friday.
(Church Leaders)
