Singles

Jordan Smith Releases ‘The People’s Hymnal’

pato February 22, 2025 2 min read 0

Jordan Smith is beloved for his many gifts — the velvety expanse of his vocals; his emotive songs, one of which was recorded by Celine Dion; and his southern-gentleman humility, evident from his victory on Season 9 of “The Voice” a decade ago. (He remains the highest-selling artist ever to compete on the smash television talent show.) But at his core, he will always be a gospel singer.

Now the accomplished, Harlan, Kentucky native invites listeners to church with a dynamic collection of gospel standards on his first album with Gaither Music Group, The People’s Hymnal, out today (Feb 21). The record, his fifth studio album and sixth overall, comes nine years after releasing Something Beautiful, his acclaimed 2016 David Foster/Stephan Moccio co-produced, pop-leaning debut.

“I grew up in a little church in the Appalachian Mountains,” Smith writes in the record’s liner notes. “If there’s a cloth I’ve been cut from, songs like these are the thread. They are my inheritance.”

The project is co-produced by guitarist-producer extraordinaire Colin Linden (Lucinda Williams, the McCrary Sisters, also the primary music producer, songwriter and musician for ABC’s hit show Nashville) and Tommy Sims, who co-wrote Eric Clapton’s GRAMMY-winning song, “Change the World” and has worked with everyone from CeCe Winans to Bruce Springsteen.

It is a contemporary gospel, pop-tinged album that showcases the dynamic breadth of Smith’s vocals with a collection of stirring arrangements that are familiar yet reimagined.