Louder Than The Music

Matthew West, the four-time GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter will release his new album, Live Forever, on April 28 (Capitol CMG). Produced by Pete Kipley (MercyMe, Crowder), Live Forever continues West's mission to tell a story of a different kind with his music - to transform listeners’ stories into life-changing songs.

Live Forever is now available for pre-order. The pre-order at iTunes includes two instant downloads - the album’s first radio single, “Day One,” as well as the title track. Additionally, two more instant downloads will become available leading up to the album's release. Those who have pre-ordered Live Forever will also receive "World Changers" on April 14, followed by "Grace Wins" on April 21. The album is also available for pre-order at Amazon and Google Play.

Live Forever came together by West digging deeper into more than 40,000 stories shared with him from people all over the world - stories that six years and three albums later have had a profound ripple effect - beginning with 2010’s The Story of Your Life then followed by Into the Light in 2012. While preparing for the new album, West’s greater goal was to create songs full of joy and life, not just life on earth - but life that is to come.

"It was important this time around to say that there is joy in this life," West shares. "With so much defeat all around us, people need to know there is victory. Maybe my job in reading a lot of these desperate stories is to extract the hope, to say ‘God is a God of hope.’ This was a very decisive album, in that way."

West also wanted to acknowledge that no one has a perfect story. "We could spend the rest of our lives on the past, or we could look ahead, trusting God to write the best parts of our story starting now," he explains. "I’ve always had this desire to connect to the hearts of people through the songs that I write. But the past six years have kind of ruined me for ordinary. It’s at such a deeper level now because nothing is more meaningful than sitting down to write songs from these stories. And it’s freed me up. I’m just not interested in songs for hits sake. As long as people write to me, I’ll keep writing their songs, pointing people to the greater story."