Fireflight's new album, Who We Are: The Head and the Heartis the band's sixth studio album and debut album with Rockfest Records. More than five years of writing went into this album; more than most of their previous albums. And, as such, there is a lot to unpack. Here's what the band members, comprised of Dawn Michele, Glenn Drennen, and Justin Cox, shared about each song on this great new rock record.
"Ready for More"
Dawn: This song is a call to action. We all need to take a break sometimes to step back and regroup. We pour ourselves out all the time. And, if we don't ever do any refilling, we get completely emptied out. This song is about jumping back into the fray after recharging.
"Bang Bang"
Dawn: We talk about a lot of heavy stuff. But, at the same time, we want to give people hope, motivation, power, and strength. We wanted to have a rallying cry, to get people to step up and realize that they can take action. Let's break down the things that are pinning us down.
Glenn: It's about doing more than just surviving. That's often where we land. This song is saying, "hey, we can do more than survive. We can make a difference. It's going to be hard, but it's worth it!"
"Who We Are"
Dawn: It's so strange to have this song that we wrote a while ago be so fitting now. This song talks about how, as God's children, we are the people who are supposed to show love to others. It almost sounds like a protest song to me, and here we are in the middle of so many people protesting and reaching out and calling for justice and reform and love for fellow man. It feels prophetic that it was written so long ago. For me, it takes a conscious decision every day to care about people other than myself, about problems other than my own. I am God's daughter, someone who is here to be a light to the lost and love to the whole world.
"How To Fly"
Dawn: This is a personal story of being at that point where you are so beat down, you're feeling like you can't even breathe. There's a line that says 'I can't take another breath right now.' and it's hard to remember in those hard times that God has come through before. We get so bogged down in our addictions and our obsessions, always trying to numb ourselves out with entertainment and distractions.
Glenn: I vividly remember this song as being one of those magic moments that happen every once in a while when you're writing. When we got to the bridge, we knew we had the meat of it, but needed to take it to another level lyrically. Josiah Prince got on the keyboard just to find out what we were working with. Whatever pad he was on, he just started playing to the progression. I was like, "hold up, that's magic." It helped take this to the next level.
"Keep Your Head Up"
Glenn: This is specifically one of the songs that I listen to and medyum think "man, I just want someone to hear this now!" Especially when COVID-19 started happening. We just started seeing a lot of anxiety, a lot of depression, people losing their jobs, people having family problems, financial problems and more issues spring up all over. We've always tried to be open with our struggles and open with where we are as human beings. I think it's powerful when you hear that someone you know understands where you are.
"Welcome To The Show"
Dawn: I get really fired up about this song. I think we've all encountered situations in our lives where people seem to be really focused on how everything looks, but there didn't seem to be a heart behind what they were saying. Specifically, I think some of the visuals we were looking at when writing was how sometimes the church tends to be thrill-seekers, not to say it's a bad thing itself. But a lot of times, we put our focus on that stuff, and we start losing the important part, which is that we're trying to enter the presence of God.
"Bury The Dead"
Dawn: We see a lot of oppression and injustice in the world out there. I do a lot of mentorship of young women, and there's a recurring theme of being under oppression or abuse. Even outside of that, the way our culture is, there's a huge focus on how you look. So it talks about 'breaking the mirror, but I'm still not alone.' The victim mentality almost becomes part of our personality. In the end, we are better off burying the dead and working towards freedom than we are just letting ourselves be branded a victim and staying that way for the rest of our lives.
"Arrow"
Dawn: We're always looking for someone to hold us up, give us strength, and have our back. It takes an incredible level of vulnerability to do that, and it's the most difficult thing you'll ever do. No one wants to be alone. At the same time, if someone else is there, they see your best and your worst. This song is a love song about the hard parts, about how that's probably the most beautiful part of it all.
Glenn: This is a relationship song and that's a bit of a departure for us. We're putting it out in the open that there are those things that no one else can do to you but the person that you love the most.
"I Believe You"
Glenn: "I Believe You" is written from the perspective of someone who is struggling. A lot of times, we try to come alongside those kinds of people, and even if we have struggled with that ourselves, we try to fix it. That comes from a good place, but a lot of times all they want to hear is that we believe them. That's a lonely place to be. But when you find that one person who is listening and there for you, there's not a whole lot of words for that powerful experience.
Dawn: I think most of all, what people really want is to be heard. They want to feel like someone sees them, that someone hears them, that they're not alone in their experience.
"Don't Let Me Go"
Glenn: This is my favorite song on the record. It goes in different places than we've ever really tried to go before. It simply goes back to "I need You. Whether I've made a mistake, or whether I feel alone, or whether I'm going through something, I still need You." We were very strategic about putting this one at the end of the record.
Dawn: This is my favorite song on the album too! I love the way it sounds, the way it plays, everything it says. This song is crying out to God that we need Him. This song is a confession, and it's also an outcry. It talks about fear and anger, and acceptance. It can be a really great thing to lose control and give God control.
Ryan Adams lives in Ohio but grew up in Boise, Idaho. He graduated Boise Bible College in 2018. He fell in love with the heavy music scene through a best friend and enjoys sharing his love for it through NRT.
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