Jars of Clay follows up its critically acclaimed 2006 album Good Monsters and its excellent 2007 effort, Christmas Songs, with The Long Fall Back to Earth, releasing April 21.

The GRAMMY- and Dove Award-winning band said the title of the album is not an admission these songs won’t measure up to its recent portfolio, but rather refers to the interpersonal issues the new recording addresses.

“The Long Fall Back to Earth picks up where Good Monsters left off,” said keyboardist Charlie Lowell. “Good Monsters was, in many ways, a view of humanity from 40,000 feet above the earth.

“During that season, we were learning about what it means to live in community rather than in isolation. And one of the things we learned is that our spirituality is our relationships, our day-to-day, up-close-and-personal … relationships.”

Lead singer Dan Haseltine said: “The Long Fall Back to Earth describes that sobering moment in a relationship when you move from the euphoria of being in love to the reality of what it means to live in relationship with someone else on a day-to-day basis.”

The album’s first single, “Two Hands,” would seem to agree with Haseltine’s assessment.

There he sings, “I am a house that is divided in my heart and in my mind/I use one hand to pull you closer, the other to push you away.”

The music on this album still offers some ethereal, melancholy moments of pop-rock reminiscent of Good Monsters, but with much more of an ’80s influence.

Lowell admitted the new album was “influenced by the … music we all grew up with,” which includes Depeche Mode and Tears for Fears.

For more information or to order The Long Fall Back to Earth, click here or call 800-333-9000.

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