A new album is coming from Eric Church! The singer-songwriter announces the release of Evangeline vs. The Machine, out on May 2. The record includes a brand-new song, “Hands of Time,” out now.

“An album is a snapshot in time that lasts for all time,” Church reveals. “I believe in that time-tested tradition of making records that live and breathe as one piece of art – I think it’s important.”

Never one to bow to supposed rules or traditions, the 47-year-old created his new record much as he has his previous projects, by making the music that he wants to make.

“I’ve always let creativity be the muse. It’s been a compass for me,” Church states. “The people that I look up to in my career and the kind of musicians I gravitate to never did what I thought they were going to do next – and I love them for it. I never want our fans to get an album and go, ‘Oh, that’s like Chief or that’s like this.’ Painstakingly, I lose sleep at night to try to make sure that whatever we do creatively, they go, ‘Wow, that’s not what I thought.’ I think that’s my job as an artist.”

“Hands of Time,” written by Church and Scooter Carusoe, is one of eight songs on Church’s next album.

“As I get older, I’m looking for things that make me feel not as old,” Church explains. “For ‘Hands of Time, I can honestly say that when I hear music or a movie or something, those things — when I see something from my past, I feel like I did then. I relate to what it was then. There’s a line in the song that says, ‘How do you handle the hands of time?’

“And, I really believe that a really good way to handle that is with music … That’s the way that I handle it,” he continues, “and I think it was an interesting concept from a writing standpoint, to come in and handle it that way. I think it’s pretty good advice for people as they age to find things that make them feel younger. And that’s what this song’s about.”

Church previously released another song, “Darkest Hour,” which also appears on Evangeline vs. The Machine. All of the proceeds from the song go to support ongoing recovery efforts for those in North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Helene.

“There are places that are just biblically gone,” Church said when releasing “Darkest Hour.” “These are our family members, they’re our friends, they’re our neighbors – and they’re in dire need of help. And I’ve been in the studio for a while, trying some different things and exploring creativity. I had this song that I’d written, and the line that struck me in light of the recent devastation was ‘I’ll come running,’ because there are a lot of people out there right now who are in their darkest hour and they need people to come running.

“We were going to wait to release music until next year, but it just didn’t feel right to wait with this song,” he adds. “Sometimes you give songs their moment and sometimes they find their own moment.”

See a track list for Evangeline vs. The Machine below. Find “Hands of Time” and all of Church’s music, and pre-order the new record, at EricChurch.com.

Evangeline vs. The Machine Track List:

1. Hands Of Time (Eric Church, Scooter Carusoe)
2. Bleed On Paper (Tucker Beathard, Casey Beathard, Monty Criswell)
3. Johnny (Eric Church, Luke Laird, Brett Warren)
4. Storm In Their Blood (Eric Church)
5. Darkest Hour (Eric Church)
6. Evangeline (Eric Church, Luke Laird, Barry Dean)
7. Rocket’s White Lincoln (Eric Church)
8. Clap Hands (Tom Waits)