When you've been a band for 20 years, it's hard to come up with a fresh approach when it's time to make a new album. Yet, leading up to their seventh studio LP, Out of Body, GRAMMY-nominated rock band NEEDTOBREATHE posed a question they had never asked before: Do we enjoy doing this?
At the time, the stakes were far too high for Bear Rinehart (lead vocals, guitar), Seth Bolt (bass, vocals) and Josh Lovelace (keys, vocals) to not love making music.
"It was like, man, if we can't enjoy doing this together, this is going to be a long slog, because it's going to be difficult when it comes out," Rinehart admits. "People are going to have questions about everything we say and do. Are we ready to put up with that? And I think the only way, at least for me, was if we really enjoy the process."
Well before Out of Body hit streaming services and select retailers in late August, the anticipated questions started rolling in. High on the interrogation list: Where's Bo?
The band announced the departure of the founding member and Bear's biological brother in April—a hard blow to both longtime fans and the remaining band members themselves, who weren't sure they could even continue without the multi-talented artist and instrumentalist.
Both live and in the studio, Bo manned every instrument under the sun—from an unorthodox mandola to his signature banjo and everything in between. In addition, alongside Bear, he served as one of the group's primary songwriters. An art major, Bo also put his visual stamp on NEEDTOBREATHE's branding, designing everything from T-shirts to album art. The band's visual aesthetics on tour mirrored his vision, and his charismatic stage presence was a hallmark of their concerts. Needless to say, his absence was felt on every level as Bear, Seth and Josh found themselves pondering an uncertain future.
As if the loss of a core bandmate wasn't enough, they were also faced with the dilemma of releasing new music in the middle of a pandemic that decimated the very thing they'd spent two decades perfecting—their live show.
WATCH NOW: "Who Am I" (Live From Celebrating Out of Body)
"It's been really weird for us to not be able to do the thing we feel like we were made to do," confesses Lovelace. "The reason why we go into the studio is just so we can go tour, because we still love playing shows. That doesn't feel like work; that feels like the fun part. With the world being the way it is right now, you wish that you could go out and give a musical hug to the world, because everybody just needs some encouragement. You just want to be able to be out there and do your part."
Since they couldn't take the new songs on Out of Body to fans out on the road, the band opted to bring Out of Body to fans at home, hosting a livestream on release day and playing the album in full followed by some handpicked classics. In reality, the livestream was a celebration on multiple levels. The band—now officially a trio—was commemorating the launch of another body of work, yes; but they were also acknowledging a newfound realization that's helped them move forward: Maybe NEEDTOBREATHE is bigger than the sum of its parts.
This epiphany enabled them to set their egos aside and learn how to work together in new ways, flexing muscles they'd never used before.
"I think historically we all could be hardheaded with how we think the songs should go and how they should ultimately sound, but we made the decision that we were going to trust one another in the process and rely on each other in ways we hadn't before," Bolt offers. "Music has been therapeutic for us over the years as we process life and what it throws at you, and this record certainly was that for the band."
The longtime Charleston-based outfit, now spread out across three cities—Bear in Nashville, Seth remaining in South Carolina, and Josh in his hometown of Knoxville—spent a week at a beach house retreat attempting to solidify their vision for this next record before entering the studio with Nashville producers Cason Cooley (Josh Wilson, Jason Gray) and Jeremy Lutito (Colony House, Jon Foreman). Rinehart also naturally found himself collaborating with some well-known Country writers like chart-topping recording artist Thomas Rhett and Emily Weisband, who earned a GRAMMY for co-writing Hillary Scott's "Thy Will." Since the album has been in the works for a while, Bo still holds co-writing credit on nearly half of the project's 11 original tracks, though he was not a part of the recording process.
"There's something that we're supposed to say to people, a message that we've been given." Bear Rinehart
The result is an amalgamation of what makes NEEDTOBREATHE a cult favorite—lyrics learned the hard way, expertly crafted musicianship, and a raw, live sonic quality that can't be replicated. If their last studio offering, HARD LOVE, felt like a departure into soulful pop territory, Out of Body is the application of two decades worth of experimentation and fine-tuning.
"Definitely a goal of ours going into this record was to take some of the things we felt like we had done best over the years and lean on those," Rinehart shares, "but I hope that we do always feel like we're still learning."
Lovelace agrees, and he asserts that they've done a lot of growing up over the course of the past four years since dropping a full slate of new music. "I feel like we're learning a lot about ourselves," he says, "and about each other."
As such, there's both a newfound openness and a palpable maturity that permeates Out of Body, the first full record Rinehart has crafted since becoming a father. Now viewing life through the eyes of his three young sons, there's a childlike sense of wonder attached to the frontman's lyrics, historically laced with darker undertones as he transparently wrestles with doubt.
RELATED STORY: NEEDTOBREATHE Marvels at the Unconditional Love of God in "Who Am I"
He does just that on Out of Body's moody lead single, "Who Am I," a song that immediately connected with fans in a powerful way. "I think we all struggle with the idea that we're worthy of love, so the fact that we're loved by God is just crazy and should make you never doubt anything else," shares Rinehart of the message behind the song whose signature line, "You grow Your roses on my barren soul," he predicts will get inked into many a tattoo.
"I think after we recorded that song, I told the band, 'I hope you're ready to play this for the next 10 years,'" he continues. "This one feels very important, like a song we're going to be playing for a long time."
If Rinehart's prediction holds true, "Who Am I" will simply follow a long line of NEEDTOBREATHE hits, like "Brother," "Something Beautiful" and "Washed By The Water," that have come to punctuate a catalog filled with songs that are hard to categorize—both lyrically and musically. But that's the beauty found in what they do. More times than not, the interpretation is up to the listener.
"Some of these songs were written from deep pain, so I resonate with that," Bolt says. "And I think in those moments, which is the moment that a lot of us find ourselves in now, you can't fake your way out of it, necessarily, or feel your way out of it. The answer is something that is spiritual and requires deeper reflection in order to fully process it. I think that spiritual component of music is what draws us to it when we need it most."
Beneath the crunch of guitars and the swell of arena-ready choruses begging to be heard live, this time around, there's also a hint of something else that lingers long after Lovelace's rambling piano interlude fades on Out of Body's final track. The sensation feels something like peace. But don't mistake it for resolution. NEEDTOBREATHE still doesn't claim to have all the answers. Yet, despite the fact that they've been making music for two decades, the platinum-selling trio proves an old adage to be true: With age comes wisdom.
"I feel like as you get older, there are so many less absolutes in your life," Rinehart concedes. "There's a lot of uncertain things surrounding our band, but our job is not to answer all those questions. It's just to show up. There's something that we're supposed to say to people, a message that we've been given. The band is bigger than any of us as individuals. The music is more important than we are."
BONUS TRACK: NEEDTOBREATHE Releases New Version of "Who Am I (feat. Elle King)"
