Anne Wilson’s REBEL album is out! The singer-songwriter released the project, her sophomore record and her first country project, on Friday, April 19.
Wilson already had success with her debut My Jesus record, which included her first No. 1 single with the title track. It was, ironically, the response to that record that inspired Wilson to release a country album as well.
“For me, I think it started when I sent a song to Christian radio that was very faith-based, but it got a lot of pushback because it sounded too country,” Wilson told UMG Nashville. “And so it kind of lit a fire in me to go, ‘Well, I’m not going to fit in anymore. I want to be who I am authentically, and I want that to be my message.'”
Wilson determined that she wanted her faith to remain prominent in her music, even if the record wasn’t necessarily a Christian album.
“That’s where it really came in, but on the other end, just being a person of faith in the world that we live in today, it feels like you’re an outsider if you have faith, especially for my generation,” explained the singer. “My generation struggles a lot with feeling like we have permission to talk about our faith. We can come out and say it without being judged. So, I think for me, I’m gonna be a REBEL. I’m gonna stand up for what I believe in.
“I’m gonna love my country,” she continued. “I’m gonna love God. I’m gonna stand up for the things that I believe in. I’m not gonna follow the world or the ways of the world, but I’m gonna follow Jesus and my faith, and that’s what makes me a REBEL.”
At a party celebrating the release of REBEL, Wilson explained how her musical career began, after her older brother, Jacob, was killed in a car accident in 2017, when he was just 23 years old.
“This is more about the faithfulness of God than it is anything else, just seeing how far God has brought me, from a little 15-year-old girl from Kentucky who tragically lost my brother, and had no idea what God was going to do with my life, to releasing my sophomore album,” Wilson shared.
When Wilson began writing the 16 songs on REBEL, she determined to be authentic to herself, and only write what she felt and believed.
“This record was the most free I’ve ever felt, from a writing perspective and a creative perspective,” Wilson explained. “Getting to feel like I had the freedom to write whatever I wanted to write, and to really sit down and think, ‘What’s God showing me in my life, and what kind of songs am I going to write for it?'”
The album title came from how she perceives being a person of great faith, at a time when it isn’t necessarily well-received by others.
“I feel like being a person of faith and following Jesus makes us rebels, because the world that we live in today, if we have faith, somehow we’re the odd ones out,” Wilson shared. “For me, I wanted to be bold in that. I wanted to take the message of the gospel to country music, and to stand firm in the truth of what I know is true, and not back down in what I believe in, and stand firm in it.”
REBEL might seem like a departure from her freshman record, but Wilson says it is actually a natural transition, especially at this point in her life and career.
“My Jesus, every song was faith-based, but it was country-sounding,” Wilson said. “That was very natural for me. When I first started writing songs in Nashville, it was kind of figuring out who I was. And then I realized that, for me, it was going back to my roots from where I’m from in Kentucky. I was raised on Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash. I was also raised on bluegrass music … I’ve always been seeped in all of that kind of music. It’s very natural for me. It’s what I grew up listening to and what I love. But I also love Christian music. I was like, ‘How do I combine all of these into one album?’
“I did that a little bit on the first record,” she added. “But this record, as I’ve gotten older — I’m now 22 — and as I’m learning and growing as a person and maturing, country music has just always been a big love of mine, and so I wanted to take the sound of country music, and blend it with the message of faith.”
Wilson is joined by Lainey Wilson, Jordan Davis and Chris Tomlin on REBEL. Purchase the record and find all of her upcoming shows at AnneWilsonOfficial.com.