Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Journey Member Jonathan Cain Releases 'Arise' Album
Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Journey band member Jonathan Cain releases his solo studio album, Arise, today (May 27) from Identity Records with The Fuel Music distribution. Resonating with joy and a profound sense of God’s power and grace, the recording offers a wake-up call to the Church and is this iconic artist’s sixth faith-inspired, full-length project since 2016.
Mixing brand new songs with tracks from his acclaimed Oh Lord Lead Us EP, including the American Songwriter, The 700 Club-featured title track that became his biggest solo hit to date, Arise is a call for the Church’s collective voices to be heard.
“Like faith in action, the music of Arise moves to the spirit of revival. God is making his presence felt here on earth, and it's up to us to wake up, to feel it, feel the revival and just dig in,” encourages Cain, who leads worship at City Of Destiny Church in Apopka, FL where his wife, Paula White-Cain, is pastor. “I hope that this music stirs up and awakens people in a way that they can become a part of what God is doing.”
Encouraging this participation is Arise’s anthemic lead track, “Roar.” “Release the roar, in your praise. Release the sound, call His Name. Use your voice, let it out. Silence the enemy, shout it loud,” belts Cain amidst an uplifting chorus of voices.
“We need to put roar in our praise. We better stand up for our faith,” says Cain. “As Christians, we must not sit by and say, ‘Well, politics and religion don't matter.’ They surely do. There are a lot of people that just let status quo be, and I'm not one of them…The enemy is at our front door trying to destroy this church. We are soldiers. We wear the armor of God, so be victorious. Stand in the gap with the Holy Spirit and band together.”
Inspired by the feast of Pentecost, which is celebrated by Christians June 5 this year and marks the gift of the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus and described in Acts 2, Cain penned “Upper Room” for the new album.
“I think it's such an important feast,” says Cain, adding, “For the apostles to win 3,000 souls to Jesus that day as nations from around the known world were in Jerusalem, it is almost as extraordinary as the resurrection. And so I thought, ‘This is really crucial for our faith. That's a cornerstone thing.’ I try to write about the cornerstones. What do we build faith on?”
Come meet our God in the upper room
Come feel a sound like the driving wind
Tongues of fire fill the upper room
Holy Spirit fill our hearts within
(From “Upper Room” chorus)
Cain, a Chicago native, has spent decades pouring out his musical gifts in front of huge audiences, but when not touring, he can be found serving his home church and has never been more fulfilled than in his role as worship leader.
“Worship is ‘What do you have for me?’ God wants to know what you're bringing,” he says. “A lot of times people come to worship thinking that they’re going to get something out of this when really, it's the exact opposite. You need to lay it down at the altar for God. That’s what worship is.”
Produced by Cain, mixed by David Kalmusky (Justin Bieber, The Fray, Keith Urban), mastered by GRAMMY Award-winning Adam Ayan (Paul McCartney, Carrie Underwood, Foo Fighters), Arise was recorded at Cain’s state-of-the-art Addiction Sound Studios in Nashville with select parts done remotely.
