It’s all systems go for Conrad Sewell. Today the multi-award-winning artist announced the title of his second album, Precious, set for release in early 2023, and has unleashed anthemic rock anthem “Make Me A Believer”.
Recorded mid-pandemic over the last two years, Precious was created with an all-star band: Zane Carney (John Mayer’s guitarist), Adam MacDougall (The Black Crowes’ keyboardist), Victor Indrizzo (Alanis Morissette’s drummer), Aiden Moore (Justin Timberlake’s bassist) and Regiment Horns (Justin Timberlake’s horn section).
In the press announcement of the single today, Sewell said: “’Make Me A Believer’ is my proclamation of unwavering devotion. I wrote this song when I finally found the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and I knew I had to do everything in my power to restore her faith in love.”
Sewell tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ “Make Me A Believer” was the “hardest song to get right”.
“I think of this like our ‘Dancing in the Dark’,” he says, referring to Bruce Springsteen’s studio marathon of six different recorded takes before he landed on the final version. “[…] We could not find the chorus and was sitting on it for months and months and months.”
Sewell says he took the song to his friend and songwriter Brian Ellis, who sang the note that changed it all.
“It just opened up,” he says of Brian Ellis’ pre-recording contribution, “his voice opened up a whole bunch of melodies in my head and then we landed on that chorus melody. We had the demo and we were all excited… we’re fucking jumping around the room.
“It sounded great in the studio,” he added. “And we’re driving home and we’re listening to the voice memo and we’re like, ‘This is fucking amazing, we’ve got it’.”
The hurdles for the song weren’t all overcome yet. Sewell and co. tried laying down the arrangement of the track on piano, guitar, and even ukulele; but nothing sounded like the voice memo — which runs for seven minutes. Sewell and the band managed to crack the code but noted it’s the highest song he’s ever written.
“Make Me A Believer” arrives with a raw, emotive visual accompaniment. Shot in Los Angeles during the album recording process, the clip demonstrates Sewell’s indelible vocal chops and live presence.
Sewell also announced he will perform three headline East Coast shows in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne throughout November and December (see full dates below).
An Intimate Evening With Conrad Sewell
Presented by Frontier Touring
Frontier Members presale begins Monday, October 17th (11am local time)
General public sale begins Wednesday, October 19th (12pm local time)
Wednesday, November 30th
Factory Theatre, Sydney, NSW
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Thursday, December 1st
The Triffid, Brisbane, QLD
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Thursday, December 8th
Corner Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
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