Audrey Assad has announced a "farewell of sorts" to Christian music, noting that she is focusing her attention on what she says is the "other half" of her musical calling--pop music.
In a letter to her fans posted via social media, the singer-songwriter/worship artist announced that she has formed a new musical project, called LEVV, and will release an EP in early 2015.
Assad already has released a demo for the new song "Arrow" on LEVV's Soundcloud account.
The move, Assad says, comes after years of struggling with her dual calling of creating "church music" and pop music. During her time as a signed artist at a Christian label, Assad said she struggled with trying to merge the two, and ultimately decided the two callings had to be separate from one other.
After going independent, she devoted herself to creating that church music, releasing the crowd-funded albums
Fortunate Fall,
O Happy Fault (the live album) and, earlier this year,
Death Be Not Proud.
Now, Assad says she is shifting her emphasis way from church music and onto the more mainstream pop of LEVV and other musical pursuits. The reason for the shift, she says, is multifaceted, but in her statement noted, "I was (and am) no longer comfortable with ministry as a career."
Assad said she still will release "occasional Church music records, as well as ministering here and there," but the full-time Christian music career is over, noting that her
fall tour is sort of the grand finale in that realm.
Read Audrey's full statement
here, and connect with LEVV on Facebook
here.
