Tyler Childers takes listeners to church with new song 'Angel Band'

Tyler Childers returned to stereo speakers Thursday with "Angel Band," a six-minute revelatory epic that marks a new chapter for the storytellin' Kentucky songwriter.

"Angel Band" takes listeners to an organ and horn-soaked world where Childers delivers a belting chorus, "Hallelujah, jubilee/ I can hear the angel band/ I was blind, but now I see/ And I'll jump right in amongst them, when I reach the glory land."

The song gives listeners a first taste of "Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven?," a new triple-album project due out Sept. 30. Childers produced the album with his faithful band The Food Stamps, recording it at guitarist James Barker’s home studio, Dragline.

On the new project, he shared in a statement: "I grew up Baptist and I was scared to death to go to hell. And a lot of that stuck with me. Filtering through that and trying to find the truth, and the beauty, and the things you should think about and expelling all that nonsense has been something I’ve spent a lot of time on. This is a collection that came together through those reflections."

He later added, "Message wise, I hope that people take that it doesn't matter race, creed, religion and all of that like — the most important part is to protect your heart, cultivate that and make that something useful for the world.”

The album features an eight-song collection from Childers, including the aforementioned "Angel Band," a number called "Way Of The Triune God" and "Old Country Church," presumably a cover of the Hank Williams standard that the singer regularly performs live.

And Childers tripled down on his latest studio effort with plans to deliver three sonic versions of "Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven?," according to his website: "Hallelujah," "Jubilee" and "Joyful Noise."

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"Hallelujah" represents sessions captured live, while "Jubilee" builds on those takes with layers strings, horns and additional instruments. "Joyful Noise" renditions stay under lock-and-key until release day, per a news release.

Releasing three versions gives nod to Childers being raised in a church that worshiped the Holy Trinity, he said.

"The Father being the root, the place from which everything comes from, and The Son coming to free up some of those things, allowing it to be more open and welcoming," he said. "And then you have the Holy Ghost once The Son is gone — that feeling that’s supposed to keep us sustained until we are reunited, in whatever way that looks."

Childers last studio album — a collection of fiddle tunes anchored by protest song "Long Violent History" — debuted in 2020. He last released a collection of original music in 2019, the nine-song effort "Country Squire."

Later this month, the singer-songwriter reprises Healing Appalachia, a multi-night festival in West Virginia that raises funds to fight opioid addition in the region.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Listen to Tyler Childers' new song 'Angel Band'