Unspoken – Full Circle

It may have taken the guys a few months to extract an overarching theme, but just a few tracks in, and the message hits home.

“It’s easy to start. It’s hard to finish and finish well,” says Mattson. “Spiritually, personally, we have to follow through. The little commitments and the small things we attach ourselves to can easily wane over time. It’s so important to have the same passion and same heart in our walk with the Lord as when we started. A lot of us die-off toward the middle if one thing or another hasn’t gone the way we thought it would. For us, the Lord really brought back that original sense of wonder.”

For a band of thirteen years, this record is remarkably fresh—pulling from rich, emotional life experiences previously untapped in their songwriting process. Among those, Mattson’s personal battle with drugs and his successful, multiple-year recovery.

“‘Life In The Death Of Me’ is the first song I’ve ever written about drug addiction and recovery and my specific story and situation,” says Mattson. “I grew up in church and am so grateful for parents who taught me about Jesus. I was saved when I was twelve and always had faith in Christ, I just never claimed the power to live for God. Finally, I just decided that lukewarm was no good. You’ve got to be hot or cold and I couldn’t be hot, so I went the other way. I got into using and selling drugs.

“I was mowing lawns and had a landscaping business. One of my clients saw that my life was kind-of a wreck. He was a wealthy guy and told me that if I found a place to go, he would pay for it. He was a Buddhist, but was willing to reach out and help someone like me. At that point, I had some friends who were missionaries in the Dominican Republic. I asked if I could visit them for a while. This was in the middle of addiction and for the first time in my life, I began to hang out with Jesus. There was no way my life couldn’t be changed.”

Indeed, the change was seismic. He was able to get sober and has stayed that way since. It was also on that trip that he met his future guitar player, who came back to the United States with him, where they formed the band. Thirteen years later, they’re stronger than ever, which, not surprisingly, inspired another song on the album.

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