As a major fan of the Canadian band Downhere since their Dove Award winning debut in 2001, this band has only managed to get better this decade putting them in the ranks of my other favorite bands Jars of Clay, MercyMe and Sanctus Real. To help tide us over until Downhere’s new album comes out next year, the band released a 2-disc project at festivals this summer called Two At A Time: Sneak Peeks and B Sides.

This is an album of sneak peeks of new song as well as some never-before released songs and is currently only available online.

“You’re Not Alone” is Downhere’s current single off Two At A Time. If you liked “My Last Amen,” “Hope Is Rising” and “Here I Am” from Ending Is Beginning, then you’ll want to get this great new song.

I got the great opportunity to interview co-vocalists Marc Martel and Jason Germain in person at the Creation Northeast festival about current single “You’re Not Alone.” Here is what Marc and Jason shared with me about the song.

Jason, please tell me about the background in writing the song, "You’re Not Alone."

I got the idea for writing “You’re Not Alone” while writing "A Better Way." Every time I would sing that song, I started investigating in myself those feelings that I express and wanted to build on them. As I was writing the first line, “you feel the isolation” for “You’re Not Alone,” I started recognizing those feelings in my friends, even those I grew up with that are far from the Lord today, and I began borrowing from their life experiences. I felt I needed to talk about the Gospel in a social way and a community fashion. You really hear it in the bridge, “reach out, don’t reach within.” It’s a proclamation and it’s a Truth. Normally in our songs you hear prayers, like “Here I am, Lord send me.” In this song, it’s like we have some mystical wisdom imparted in song. That’s not how we view the song. I always struggle with trying to put words in God’s mouth, however it’s appropriate in this case. I have experienced seasons of feeling alone, and it seems appropriate to sing words of encouragement to each other from God’s voice.

Marc, what was your reaction when Jason brought you the song?

Honestly, Jason and I pride ourselves in trying to write lyrics in a way that people haven’t heard before. The music especially struck me, and I love the bridge and the big lift in the song. It took awhile for the lyrics, “you’re not alone” to stick with me. It seems like something we hear a lot, but I think we need to hear it. God knew I needed to hear it from Him. Jason and I are like brothers. You don’t see a lot of bands with two lead singers who share vocals equally like we do. That’s been a blessing and a struggle with us over the last 10 years. It wasn’t until Wide-Eyed and Mystified that we started coming into our own with how to blend our sounds, and not seem like 2 different bands. We think you’ll really hear that cohesiveness we have as a band with our next album.

Jason, do you have a life verse or any Bible verses you think goes with the song?

I was thinking of the Great Commission from Jesus when I wrote the song.

Matthew 28:18-20: And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Here are the lyrics:

You feel the isolation, slowly take a toll
This season of waiting, is starting to get old
Looking for acceptance, and aching for a home
So tired of trying to make it out on your own

There's no easy answer, but one thing you should know
You're not alone, anywhere you go
You're not alone, hear the voice whisper to your soul
A promise you can always hold:

You're not alone, no

Stuck in a dive and you've almost had enough
Because of what you've been through, it's difficult to trust
You're still barely hanging on, trying hard to fight
If anybody's listening, you want to know tonight

There's no easy answer, but one thing you should know
You're not alone, anywhere you go
You're not alone, hear the voice whisper to your soul
A promise you can always hold:

You're not alone, no

You're not alone
You're not alone

Reach out, don't reach within
I'm at the door, if you just let me in
Reach out for what you need
What you won't find in yourself, you will find in me

You're not alone, hear the voice whisper to your soul
I'll never leave or let you go
You're not alone, I'm with you to the end
You're not alone, I'm closer than a friend
You're not alone, and I'm with you to the end
You're not alone, closer than a friend
You're not alone

I absolutely love this band and this new song. I really appreciated Jason’s insight into the song especially as I thought about how we need to be in community with each other and lift each other up when we’re feeling isolated. Downhere’s lyrics always connect with me, whether from my all-time favorite song “A Better Way” or “Here I Am,” which is based on my life verse, Isaiah 6:8.

“You’re Not Alone” expresses the biblical truth that what we can’t find in ourselves alone, we can only find in the community of believers and in our relationship with God. God’s community with us is that He sent Jesus to die for us and gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit within each one of us. With everything going on in our world, we need the encouragement that God is with us and we’re not alone. There is no day, no hour of the day, in which our Lord Jesus is not present. This is such a great glimpse of what to expect from Downhere’s new album, and I can't wait.