Salvation Road Records has announced that iconic pop-rock band Blessid Union of Souls will release their latest album, The Mission Field, on March 1st, with distribution through SONY and Provident-Integrity Distribution. Blessid Union of Souls exploded onto the music scene in 1995 with the smash hit “I Believe,” which hit #1 in the UK, Asia and the USA, where it became the 4th most played song of the year. The band’s hits play like a soundtrack of the last two decades, thanks to numerous hit singles including “Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me for Me),” “Let Me Be the One,” and “Oh Virginia” to name a few. With a new album and a renewed focus, the band is ready to add more to the list.
Thanks to the seamless merger of contagious pop, rock and soul from founder and lead singer Eliot Sloan, coupled with his ability to continuously write socially conscious and spiritually inspiring songs, it’s no surprise that Blessid Union of Souls has become one of this generation’s most beloved and consistent pop-rock groups. With gold and platinum records and chart topping singles, the band has toured the world sharing stages and busses with the likes of Goo Goo Dolls, Bon Jovi, Third Eye Blind, Sister Hazel, Vertical Horizon, Edwin McCain and more, while making appearances on such top-rated television programs as “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “Live with Regis & Kelly,” “Good Morning America,” “Top of the Pops” and VH1 to name a few.
“You don’t have time to really prepare for it because all of a sudden your songs are being played on the radio, you’re getting video play and landing on TV shows all around the world,” says Sloan. “But I try not to think about it too much and never let myself get a big head. I just live a regular life with my wife and two kids at the house, drive to the studio for recordings and then hit the road when it’s time to tour.”
Sloan’s remarkably humble demeanor stems from a lifelong Christian faith that’s repeatedly made its way into Blessid Union of Souls’ songwriting. With The Mission Field, the band takes a spiritually overt direction while retaining the signature qualities that have literally attracted millions of fans over the years.
“I’ve always sung about wanting to live right, and with The Mission Field, it’s just a matter of taking things one step further and doing in my heart what I’m called to do,” explains Sloan. “The songs we wrote for our first album Home were particularly strong in that direction, and though there was more of a light-hearted direction in some of the later tracks, the underlying spiritual tone was always there. All of the pondering and articulating matters of faith on The Mission Field are basically an extension of the ideas I first started exploring on Home, which makes the two records seem like bookends with one another.”
Though a longtime staple of EMI Records (David Bowie, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Roxette) and V2 Records (The White Stripes, Moby), The Mission Field was recorded entirely on Sloan’s terms, but will pop up in all the usual physical and digital retail outlets thanks to a new deal with Salvation Road Records. With dual footing in the general and faith-based marketplace, the collection is sure to expand Blessid Union of Souls’ audience even further.
“A lot of fans have said this is the perfect transition and I also hope to inspire new listeners as well, but I don’t really think about marketplaces or numbers when I’m writing,” says Sloan. “I always just want to make them sound as good as possible while singing something of substance, which on this record says ‘let’s strap in and really make a daily, conscious effort to follow in Christ’s footsteps.’ I’m always under construction, but at the same time, if I wait until I’m perfect before taking a step, then it’s never going to happen. I don’t know of any perfect people except one and they hung Him on the cross! I think the songs speak about looking at ourselves a little closer, paying more attention to what we say and do, and knowing that overall world change is possible, but it starts with one person at a time.”
For more information on Blessid Union of Souls, visit http://www.blessidunionofsouls.net.
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