This Love will be releasing their fantastic new album, At War, tomorrow and we’re thrilled to be able to host the band’s Track-By-Track guide for the record. Vocalist and guitarist, Joe McFaddin, was kind enough to write up an extremely in-depth view behind the album for everyone, so it’s definitely worth the read if you’re a fan of the band. Enjoy!

1. One - A short intro to the album, I’d like to call it “laying the foundation”. A historical short speech from the great Robert Kennedy touching on the path we may choose, love or hate. Kennedy originally drawing inspiration from the death of Martin Luther King Jr., speaking from the open back of a pickup truck in front of thousands of frustrated american people he asks the question. “What direction will we choose to move in?”
We are all history buffs and feel parts of these speeches are perfect for our mission with this album.
 
2. Free - This song emerged quite a while before the concept was created, really it was the indicator track. I mean that in a way to where we fell in love with the message and in turn it indicated something more should be made with our first full-length album. “I’m dying to be free, when these chains are all gone I swear I’ll bring the sun to its knees”. The realization that we must live for something so much more and the only thing that holds us back is ourselves, “the monster”. Get out of those chains you know??
 
3. Shootout - A funkier feel, this songs about chasing after false joy. We seem to think about life as “living , lying , maybe loving a bit and then dying”. But its much more than that. I guess this is a sad realization that the world has seen love , and we probably do on a regular basis but mainly our generation can see war. When I say “War” it incompasses much more than the physical action, but includes the everyday battle with yourself and the decissions you make. We need to make desicions to better our selves and the world around us. Now thats the real Shootout.
 
4. We are the Brave - We got to have some fun with this one. We wanted a straight forward rock song that everyone can relate to. This came together pretty quick as we jammed it out in a basement for a few days in a row. It pretty much explains itself lyrically, ” for its each other , that we must save, we are tomorrow, we are the brave”. We wanted something that was fun to listen to recorded but even more fun to jam out live.
 
5. Good Will - The intermission , John F. Kennedy delivers a speech in a time of trial. Once again , we love history and thought this would be a perfect message to accompany our producer Tyler Smyth’s orchestral arrangement. We wanted to attack the listener with a strong , emotional score here. Going for a “jolt” in the middle of the record. I believe this begins to bring the album to its climax and thats what we were going for.
 
6. Motions - This song represents the the trials that me and my band go through on an everyday basis, trying to do what we love to do, which is play music together. We love making music for the sake of our fans and the ways that they may be moved by it. But with that being said some other people have different ideas, they choose to belittle due to their lack of passion and misunderstanding of us as people and why we have chosen this path, “we dig through the dirt and  through all the roots, for all our our plastic friends and how we left their mouths on mute”. 
Like I stated in the song, “this is a time of renovation” this is a time of necessary change. We must be the first ones to make a move and “ignore” what society says about what we “should” be doing. In turn, my intentions are not to revolt, but to do what we love and not avoid it because it may be “risky” or “silly” to others.We must, as human beings, be aware of our surroundings and constantly be in pursuit of helping others, but with doing that you must help yourself by following what God has planned for you. We wanted to hit a little harder with this track and by doing so we chose to make this the “single”.
 
7. The Thief - Now lets get started with our rock’n’roll roots. This was a late edition to the album, but do to it carrying the message from our concept and all of us falling in love with it, we had to tack it on. This is one of my favorite songs that I have ever had the pleasure of writing and jamming with the guys. It features Steve Cobucci from the well known hardcore rock band “Wolves at the Gate”, in the bridge screaming “cant you see”. The song touches on how we all wait and fumble around with our lives. God gives us gifts for a reason and we are expected to use them, to share them with others. There is a good amount of people out there who think they have it all together, “my dear brothers, hold your tongues, its not like we’ve been livin”. We need to realize that the pursuit of perfection is as close as we will get to actually being perfect. That goes for anyone, any race, any creed.
 
8. Fly Away -  My all time favorite hymn , “I’ll Fly Away” , was barrowed for the hook in this song. It means exactly what is lyrically presented. “It’s not the trials of trying to be important .” We all strive for social “acception” or importance with material things and actions. Thats not what life is about. Its about waking up in the morning knowing that the mighty Creator has chosen to get you out of bed and to then step out and be a light to the world. This song is a blast wirth its sway and counrty feel. This just shows another genre you could throw us in the middle of.
 
9. Alive - The final chapter, where the “chains are finally gone and no one can tell you no”. We wanted to end the album on a high note, reflecting back to some previous tracks and show how we learned from the issues that were talked about within them. Showing our independence, “I’m my own man now”, but also indicating we are all learning and will forever be, ” I still have time to grow, you know we all have time to grow”. Representing our home state “Ohio” and using lyrics to depict all the time we have spent here, watching the sun and finding oursleves, to finally hearing the words and freeing our souls in order to start living. Any and every moment we can possibly feel “Alive” in , we will strive to live like we are “Alive”.
 
10. We all Know Well - Finally we conclude with our current president in speech. We are excited to have our generations leader as a part of this album. We end “knowing full well” of our “One” “Good Will” we are all after. These chains are finally gone, and theres no one to tell me no. I’m my own man now, but I still have time to grow.
 
This album is about the everyday battle to become the person that the world NEEDS you to be. The creation of this album, was the best most rigorous process that the guys and I have ever been apart of. We went in and out of the good and bad times, the slow demanding aspect and also the quick and fun aspect. As a whole, we are very excited for our new and old fans to reach out and listen to every second of this album. We promise, as a band, you will get much more out of it than a couple rocknroll songs. Don’t ever be afraid to follow your dreams and passion, no matter how silly or difficult they may seem. Like I always say, believe it or not, the world needs you.
 
as a disclaimer - it is very tough to explain all the aspects and details of the songs - it would be a small novel. so take what has been said as a small piece of information to help with the understanding of the concept and the ideas this album has to offer.
*With that being said, I encourage everyone to take a small portion of their time and listen to this album to gain not only the education of our new style of music, but to also interpret what we are saying and what it may mean to you personally.