Family Force 5 is re-launching with Jacob "Crouton" Olds stepping out into the frontman role and have also announced a new label. FF5 has joined Word Label Group, and has released their album Time Stands Still on August 5, featuring 15 new songs including "BZRK," "Sweep the Leg" and "Let it be Love."

"Our album is a reflection on the liberating, ethereal experience of connecting with the holy," Derek "Chap Stique" Mount said in a previous interview. "It is an encounter that transcends boundaries, and that eclipses our frailty and our doubts. The man-made constraints of time disappear, becoming irrelevant. It is union. It is perfection. It is eternal. As 2 Peter 3:8 advises, '...Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.' In this moment, time stands still."

"From the beginning, Family Force 5 has been called to stretch boundaries, to step outside the box from the way faith based artists have traditionally sounded and looked," Jacob Olds chimed in. "We've received a lot of criticism for the last eight-and-a-half years. Our team has always struggled with the right way to respond." I had the chance to speak with the band in-person at Creation Festival Northeast about "Let it be Love."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

Jacob: This was the last song written for the new album. We had finished up with our producer Seth Mosely and we were about to leave the studio, and Derek stopped us and had us watch the video with Jon with Switchfoot at one of their shows responding to protestors. We were really inspired about how Jon said we need to find a common ground and we need to show them love, that's the card we have to play. That was really cool and inspiring for us as we've been in exactly that situation where we've had protestors and hate mail and people think we have ulterior motives about being in the Christian music industry. This song came out of that place for us. We wrote it because we agree with what Jon said. He's right. We should turn the other cheek and show people love. That's what the message of our band has been the whole time. We are about love and about the joy of Jesus Christ. It was a really cool moment. God works in really cool ways. This song wasn't even going to be on the album and was a last minute thing and it really wrote itself. We're really stoked that it is on the record and we're excited about it.

Derek: As Jacob said, the song title grew out of that video I watched about Switchfoot. Outside of that particular concert, there were people protesting the band. Lead singer Jon Foreman explained to the crowd the situation and offered his thoughts. He encouraged them to remember that there is something deeper than disagreement, and there is beauty in connection. In common ground. He also said we have one card to play, and that card is love. This is the sentiment that served as the inspiration for our song.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV): Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."

1 John 4:21 (NIV): And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

What is the takeaway message?

Derek: As we explore the message of Christ, the overwhelming number one thing and most profound statement and command is to love God and love others. We're very inspired by hoping to pass on that message and encouraging people. Whether like in the Switchfoot example of facing adversity and someone who opposes what we believe and stand for, and similarly, in general "love conquers all" is very true and powerful. I can't say enough about working with Seth Mosely. He got the concept right away and we started exploring it for this song. It was very fluid and it felt like we had a vision of passing on this challenge to the Church to let our response to anything be love. If we do that, there is no such thing as who wins, who is better, or taking sides or keeping score. Love wins.

Nathan: I agree with that. As a call to action, let it be love simplifies the message. As far as how we are supposed to act as people and Christians. In the way we treat others as Christians and those who are not Christians. In the face of adversity, in a healing way, in a forgiving and unifying way, instead of saying "what would Jesus do?" we are saying let it be love. It really simplifies in my mind and puts a filter over everything. If you bottleneck it with that statement and ask yourself does it fit through the let it be love call to action and it doesn't, then it's not the right thing to do.

Lyrics:
I've never seen a soul set free
Through an argument 
I've never seen a hurt get healed
In a protest
But I've seen sinners turned to saints
Because of grace
It's love, love that lights the w
Love that lights the way

Let it be a heart wide open
Bigger than the words we've spoken
Let it be a heart for the broken
If we're gonna light, light
Light the way
Let it be love, let it be love, yeah
Nothin' but love, nothin' but love, yeah
Let it be love, let it be love, yeah 
It's love that lights the way

It's not about the stand we take
But the grace we give
It's not about the name we make
But the life we live
Heard about a King who sat down
Took my place
True love gave His life away
It's love that lights the way

Let it be a heart wide open
Bigger than the words we've spoken
Let it be a heart for the broken
If we're gonna light, light
Light the way
Let it be love, let it be love, yeah
Nothin' but love, nothin' but love, yeah
Let it be love, let it be love, yeah 
It's love that lights the way

Stronger than every fear
Comfort for all the tears
It's where the war is run
And it has overcome
Louder than the loudest shout
Deeper than the deepest doubt
We'll watch the walls fall down
We'll watch the walls fall down

Let it be a heart wide open
Bigger than the words we've spoken
Let it be a heart for the broken
If we're gonna light, light
Light the way
Let it be love, let it be love, yeah
Nothin' but love, nothin' but love, yeah
Let it be love, let it be love, yeah 
It's love that lights the way

It's love that lights the way
Yeah, Love that lights the way

I have enjoyed FF5's brand of fun alt-rock music for several years now, and I have always been entertained by their songs "Kountry Gentleman," "Love Addict," "Earthquake," "Dance or Die," and "Chainsaw." What I've wanted to hear more from them in addition to their fun songs are some songs expressing their faith in our "Superhero," Jesus Christ, and how He impacts our daily walks as believers. I am thrilled to hear how the band is using their musical gifts for God's glory to potentially draw more people to the Gospel messages that inspire them as fellow followers of Jesus as creatively expressed throughout this great new album, Time Stands Still.

When I heard this song, I was immediately hooked by the message of "Let it be love," knowing that it is connected to the two greatest commandments from Jesus to us, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," and "love your neighbor as yourself."

As the hymn sings, "They'll know we are Christians by our love." The band really says it well with their comments and this song, especially in the second verse which is a great takeaway about this song: "It's not about the stand we take / But the grace we give / It's not about the name we make / But the life we live / Heard about a King who sat down / Took my place / True love gave His life away / It's love that lights the way." Amen to that!

(Listen to the song here.)