Todd Agnew: How to be Loved

How to be loved: this is something Todd Agnew is hoping fans of his music will get after hearing his latest album, due out on March 6.

The writer of hits like “Grace Like Rain” and “My Jesus” returns with a collection of music chronicling a new understanding of what it means to receive God’s love.

It all came about when Agnew bought his first house, moved back to Texas and became a husband and stepfather in the space of a weekend.

“I came in wanting to do stuff for them, to take care of them and my wife was asking me if I could receive from them, be loved by them,” he recalls.

“I really had to say, ‘I have no idea what you are talking about’. Then I finally translated that and realised, ‘Oh, God, I see what You’re doing! I have to learn to receive that same love from You.’”

Fittingly, his new album is simply called How to be Loved and is the product of Todd’s musical creativity and a collaboration with producer Paul Ebersold (Third Day, 3 Doors Down) and songwriters Andrew Osenga (Chris Tomlin) and Jason Ingram (Brandon Heath, MercyMe).

It features his same rich, powerful voice, but for Todd at least this record feels a little different from his previous albums.

“I think we have a much more cohesive record than I’ve done in a long time,” he says.

“My other records are kind of all over the map musically. I love music, all kinds of music, so I tend to just switch gears every four and a half minutes.”

The first single release from the album is the track “God Undefeatable”. It is a song that was originally written by two worship leaders and a pastor at his church in Austin, Texas, to be sung one Easter.

“’Undefeatable' isn’t really even a word,” says Todd.

“It isn’t a word because it’s never needed to be a word. Every empire, every dynasty, they all eventually lost. They faded. They were defeated.

“But God, His power, His might does not wane. It goes back to the idea we started with. God is the main player in the story. It’s not me fighting the battle, it’s Him.”