Lindsey Stirling, violinist extraordinaire, is back with even more amazing genre-bending music, and just released her third studio album Brave Enough on August 19th via Lindseystomp Records. Brave Enough is the follow-up to 2014's Shatter Me, which hit No. 1 on the US Top Classical Albums, US Dance/Electronic Albums, and Independent Albums charts, in addition to No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The new album includes 14 new songs, of which six are instrumental tracks and eight are vocal tunes with some very talented featured artists.
The 29-year-old musician kicked off her new album with its first single "The Arena" at the end of June this year, followed by the second and third singles "Something Wild" and "Prism" (respectively). As you listen, each song on Brave Enough is truly different and unique from the last one, so there is something on this new album for everyone -- so you could say Lindsey was brave enough to go there. On blending different genres together in her music, Lindsey recently told the Huffington Post:
“I don’t love categories. I don’t love labels. I’ve always thought that when you’re talking about art or people - labels are for food, you know? I don’t think people or art should have to be put into a box.”
There are so many amazing aspects to this album, including a roster of superstar vocalists and producers who had a hand in creating Brave Enough with Lindsey. Here's what you need to know about her new album:
There are so many amazing aspects to this album, including a roster of superstar vocalists and producers who had a hand in creating Brave Enough with Lindsey. Here's what you need to know about her new album:
1. There are some AWESOME collaborations on this album with artists from all different genres from pop, to country, to EDM, to rock, and more.
Linsey teamed up with vocalists including Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness ("Something Wild"), Christina Perri ("Brave Enough"), Dan + Shay ("Those Days"), Weezer's Rivers Cuomo and hip hop artist Lecrae ("Don't Let This Feeling Fade"), ZZ Ward ("Hold My Heart"), Shiny Toy Guns' Carah Faye ("Where Do We Go"), singer/songwriter Raja Kumari ("Mirage"), and singer/songwriter ROOTY ("Love's Just A Feeling").
2. Lindsey collaborated with some very talented producers on her new album, including Zedd and Robert DeLong.
Zedd's signature sound can be heard on "Love's Just A Feeling," while DeLong produced the song "Prism." Other star producers included on Brave Enough include RUMORS, Rock Mafia, Josh Abraham, Andrew Goldstein, Nico Stadi, Marty Rod, SILAS, Vicetone, and Nathaniel Motte.
3. Her song "Something Wild" with Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness is featured in the Disney movie 'Pete's Dragon.'
4. Much of Lindsey's new album is inspired by her late friend Gavi, but her song with Dan + Shay "Those Days" is about remembering the beautiful times she's had with him.
"This song was written in memory of Gavi, and it's about remembering the beautiful times. Life changes, and I hate change to be honest, because change is so hard. But it's amazing to look back and realize that every phase of life, every gift we're given, even though some of them come to an end, I guess all of them come to an end, we can be filled with frustration or we can be filled with gratitude for the good times."
5. The title track "Brave Enough" was the first song Lindsey wrote after Gavi passed away.
"This is the first song I wrote after he passed away because at his service, a lot of people shared thoughts, and words, and music, and one thing that kept coming up was how big his heart was, and how brave he was to love people. Whether it was a fan he just met for a moment, or whether it was his best friends, he made you feel like you were the only person in the room. I just remember thinking as I was at his funeral, I was like, 'I want to live like that. I want to learn to take the walls away from my heart, and live the way Gavi did. I want to be brave enough.'"
6. Her single "The Arena," which is an instrumental track, was inspired by a Theodore Roosevelt quote:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
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