Britt Nicole – Stronger Together
By: Jen Rose Yokel
October 14, 2016
“A lot of life can happen in just a few years, just ask beloved hit-maker Britt Nicole. Her songs have struck the balance between catchy hooks and vulnerable songwriting for almost a decade, and in 2012 she released Gold (buy), a collection of positive pop tunes that earned acclaim from contemporary Christian and mainstream audiences alike.
But a bigger audience isn’t the only thing that’s changed. A few months after Gold’s debut, she married producer Joshua Crosby, and is now a mom to three year-old Ella and twenty month-old Adin. With so much on the family calendar, it’s not surprising that it’s been so long since we heard new music, and maybe that’s what made July’s debut of new single “Through Your Eyes” such a pleasant surprise.
Nicole’s fourth record, simply titled Britt Nicole (buy), is in some ways a reintroduction and a continuation of what she does best. We had a chance to chat with her about the past four years, the power of collaboration, and the reinvention of the “same Britt” we’ve come to love.
CCM Magazine: It really has been a while since we’ve heard any new music from you, but maybe that’s just part of adjusting to marriage and mommy life?
Britt Nicole: Yeah, it’s funny, ‘cause everyone’s like, “So, you took a break!” And well, I put out a remix album last year, we continued touring, and I did two tours with TobyMac. So I kind-of haven’t really stopped? [Laughs]
But after Gold came out I had [my daughter] Ella, and when she was a year old we found out we were pregnant with my son. So over these four years so much life has happened! We have been working, but making this new record was definitely a process. It just took time.
CCM: Why did you decide to call your fourth record Britt Nicole?
BN: We were living with the songs and asking ourselves, “What is that one song that jumps out? What is that theme?” But it kind-of felt like every song was different in their own way. My husband said to me, “Why don’t you let it be your first self-titled album?”
The more I lived with that thought I felt like, “Man, this record—more than any other—has a piece of my heart in every single song. With so much life happening—getting married, having kids—obviously I wrote about all of those things. It feels like it’s me, from the lyrics to the style of the songs and the melodies, everything about it feels like who I am!
CCM: Does it feel like a reinvention?
BN: It really does. When you’re coming back with new music after four years, it’s kind of like a blank slate. People consume music so fast now that four years seems like a long time, but even though so much has changed, nothing has changed in my heart and who I am. I’m the same Britt.
It feels like a fresh start in so many ways, even with the imaging and the creative style. I love the music I’ve made before, and this feels like a continuation of that, still with a very pop sound and songs written from my heart. But this feels like a new stage of life for me.
CCM: In the past, you’ve been very involved in the writing process for your music. Did this record come from a lot of collaboration, or mostly from your personal writing?
BN: There was a ton of collaboration, actually. I felt like this year God was speaking to me about the word “together,” the power of coming together with people and the impact that can make. Sometimes I can be the kind of artist who’s like, “Okay I got it, I can figure it out,” and I can try to do things on my own. All of my records have been written with other people, but it’s usually only like five writers total and two or three producers at most. But I just felt like God was talking to me about coming together with people.
So I went to my label and said, “What if we opened up this record to other songwriters, let them pitch songs,” and we ended up putting two songs on the record that I didn’t have any part in writing. I’m excited because I don’t even know how many people total are on this record. There’s probably thirty songwriters and at least ten producers, five different mixers… So many people that are involved!
CCM: Is it challenging or freeing for you to put your music in other people’s hands?
BN: In the past, I’ve always wanted to write on every song so that they show my heart, because I feel like I can sing something with more conviction if it’s something I walked through, you know? But this time it did feel freeing. Like, “What if someone else has something to say that resonates with me?”
CCM: Was there a particular song that you really made your own?
BN: Yeah, I was pitched a song called “Pave.” It was a really cool song, and I liked what it was talking about. It was originally an acoustic ballad, but my husband started working on it, and now it’s an upbeat, fun pop song. It’s totally different from how it was given to us, though all of the lyrics and melody is the same.
For me, “Pave” is all about adventure. I don’t know what the songwriter was thinking when they wrote it, but some of the lyrics say, If you want to jump from the top of a waterfall / climb up a mountain just to hear the call / swinging through the jungle, running for tomorrow / anywhere you wanna go I can pave the road.
My husband and I had taken a trip to Hawaii, and we actually had a day without the kids and decided to just go have fun. We ended up jumping off of these amazing cliffs and waterfalls, things we never get to do in real life. And I felt like God was speaking to me, saying, “I created you to live your life and enjoy what I have given you.” So many times we get busy with our families and work, and we end up doing that same routine but forgetting to make room in our lives for adventure.
CCM: Is it challenging or freeing for you to put your music in other people’s hands?
BN: In the past, I’ve always wanted to write on every song so that they show my heart, because I feel like I can sing something with more conviction if it’s something I walked through, you know? But this time it did feel freeing. Like, “What if someone else has something to say that resonates with me?”
CCM: Was there a particular song that you really made your own?
BN: Yeah, I was pitched a song called “Pave.” It was a really cool song, and I liked what it was talking about. It was originally an acoustic ballad, but my husband started working on it, and now it’s an upbeat, fun pop song. It’s totally different from how it was given to us, though all of the lyrics and melody is the same.
For me, “Pave” is all about adventure. I don’t know what the songwriter was thinking when they wrote it, but some of the lyrics say, If you want to jump from the top of a waterfall / climb up a mountain just to hear the call / swinging through the jungle, running for tomorrow / anywhere you wanna go I can pave the road.
My husband and I had taken a trip to Hawaii, and we actually had a day without the kids and decided to just go have fun. We ended up jumping off of these amazing cliffs and waterfalls, things we never get to do in real life. And I felt like God was speaking to me, saying, “I created you to live your life and enjoy what I have given you.” So many times we get busy with our families and work, and we end up doing that same routine but forgetting to make room in our lives for adventure.
So when I heard the song I thought, “Oh my gosh, this reminds me of our trip to Hawaii!” So that’s one way that it was so much fun to invite other people into making this record and using their gifts to create something amazing.
CCM: “Through Your Eyes” just seemed to come out of nowhere and is really resonating with people. What’s the story behind that one?
BN: I wrote that song with my friend Ben Glover (“The Lost Get Found,” “All This Time”). We usually come together in the recording process and write at least one song together. We wrote some songs, but we didn’t love them…didn’t feel like they were right for the record. When I was almost finished, I felt like there was something left that I wanted to say and thought maybe Ben and I should write together one more time, because we’ve always written really strong songs before.
I noticed for a couple weeks I’d been walking with my head down, literally looking down, not living in God’s truth of what he says about me. The morning I was going to write with him, I was getting my kids ready for the day, and I felt like I wasn’t doing a very good job balancing everything. When we were getting in my car, I just sat there in the garage for a few minutes. I had my head down and I was pulling on the steering wheel, and I started to say these things to myself like, “Britt, you gotta get it together. You’ve gotta do better.” For some reason I put this pressure on myself, to be the best mom and the best wife and the best artist, almost trying to reach this perfection.
I’ve never made a record while being a mom and being a wife, so this has been a brand new process for me. Even with my walk with God I’ve been putting pressure on myself. And right then, I felt like God walked into my car and literally lifted up my head. I could feel Him saying to me, “Britt, you’re okay. Take the pressure off. Give me your heart and I’m gonna meet you and help you.” In that moment I saw myself through his eyes.
I think about my kids and how I love them. I’m not looking at them every day thinking, “Well, you guys are not perfect enough.” They’re going to make mistakes and learn, but I love them and help teach them. And God loves us way more than we can even love our kids!
So I went to the studio, and Ben and I wrote this song. I just want people to let that message speak to their hearts and minds, and to see themselves as God sees them. I think we live in a time where—especially with social media—people want to portray perfection. I think people resonate with us when we say, “I’m not perfect. I need Jesus.”
CCM: So your debut came out almost ten years ago…
BN: Oh…I hadn’t realized that!
CCM: Yes, 2007! So what would you say has been the biggest thing you’ve learned in the past tenyears doing music?
BN: Wow…ten years since Say It! I’m realizing now that I want to always be thankful for every opportunity, and be grateful I get to do this. As I’m putting out a new record it’s easy to get caught up in the work of it, but I want to stay in that place when I heard my song on the radio for the first time and I was so grateful and excited and humbled that my music would even be played.
And I think I’ve learned to have fun with what I do. I’m a perfectionist sometimes and take this stuff pretty seriously. But I’ve learned to lighten up a bit and have fun, and I think I’m enjoying it more than ever.
Article Link: http://www.ccmmagazine.com/features/britt-nicole-stronger-together/
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