Eric Church Says He’s Been In The Studio With An Orchestra & Choir Working On A New Album For Next Year

New music from the Chief coming soon. It's been 3 years since we got an album from Eric Church , who dropped his three part Heart & Soul back in 2021. Since then Church has been busy with other projects, launching his whiskey line Whiskey JYPSI, opening his Nashville bar Chief's, and teaming up with Morgan Wallen to buy the iconic outdoors brand Field & Stream. With everything he's had going on, it's left fans wondering when we could expect new music from Church. But last Friday, we got our answer when he dropped a surprise new song - for a good cause. Church released his first new single in 3 years, "Darkest Hour," and signed away all of his rights to the song to benefit his home state of North Carolina as they work to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Helene. But as it turns out, the song wasn't supposed to be released yet. While talking about "Darkest Hour," Church said that he had just finished it up for his next project, and decided to put it out early in the wake of the storm. But he also revealed that there's more to come: "I was in the studio for a project next year. Kinda doing what we always do, which is trying to be different and challenge myself creatively. Playing with an orchestra and symphony and choir, doing some really interesting stuff." If you've listened to "Darkest Hour," you hear that orchestra and choir on the soulful ballad, which has almost a Motown or southern gospel feel to it. And we've also gotten more tastes of that sound from Church recently with his controversial performance at Stagecoach Festival, which featured a gospel choir and an acoustic performance that upset some in the crowd. And if you were lucky enough to catch Church's To Beat the Devil residency at his Nashville bar, you also got a taste as Church brought out a surprise choir during part of the show, including for an unreleased song called "Johnny" that I really hope makes the new album. One thing about Church is that each album is something new. From the rock sound of The Outsiders to the more soulful sounds of Heart & Soul, he's consistently challenging himself as an artist and us as listeners. And I can't wait to see what he's got up his sleeve for this next one - especially after we got a sneak peak with "Darkest Hour." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsIVaQ3w4VI