Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue was produced by Jason Ingram (Meredith Andrews, Tenth Avenue North) and Rusty Varenkamp (Rush Of Fools, Bebo Norman) and artfully blends elements of folk, alternative rock and even some R&B into the project. Gray, a highly respected songwriter among his peers, has once again written all songs for the new CD.
"Pop music has gotten a bad reputation over the years as being fluffy and insubstantial," Jason acknowledges, "so I came into this project asking 'What if I could aim for writing intelligent and weighty lyrics with a pop discipline?'
"Admittedly, that's the hardest kind of song for me to write-to take my passion for ideas and lyrics and pare it down to a 3 and a half minute pop song.
"Just about every song I wrote had three verses and Jason Ingram was always pushing me to drop one of them. But he was right and the songs are better for it."
Gray's previous project, All The Lovely Losers, dealt with brokenness and now he takes the subject a step further, dealing with brokenness that begins with confession.
"More Like Falling In Love" takes the listener to a deeper level, asking to fall in love with Christ instead of just following the rules of Christianity. "For The First Time Again" explores the excitement of when we first accepted Christ and how we lose that enthrallment when burdened down by our life experiences and tight regulations within the church. "Does It Fade With Our Voices" is a worship song that celebrates our spiritual lives and sacrifices. The title track is one of the most powerful songs on Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue but it's proved to be a rather difficult one for Gray to write.
"'Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue' was the most difficult song I've ever written," Jason admits, "all five times that I wrote it! It's about renewal, both the longing for it and the promise of it. The inspiration came from a quote of Samwise Gamgee in 'The Lord Of The Rings' and the beauty and truth of it captured my imagination and wouldn't let me go.
"The trick was trying to express an idea that meant so much to me in a way that might mean something to others. My wife was the litmus test. I kept working on the songs for over a year until I arrived at two versions of it that when I played them for (wife) Taya she said, 'I get it now… that's it.'
"My wife's tears are the biggest stamp of approval on a song, because she knows me too well to be impressed by any of my parlor tricks."
Gray will be heading out on an early September tour with Sanctus Real in support of the new project. His website is currently under reconstruction but in the meantime, fans can keep updated with Gray at www.facebook.com/jasongray
