The latest track from Sean McConnell‘s forthcoming album A Horrible Beautiful Dream (out 6th August), ‘I Built You Up‘, is available to stream/download everywhere today (4/6): https://link.seanmcconnell.com/IBYU.
In his own words: “‘I Built You Up’ is about the inevitable fall of our heroes and the realization that all of us, even them, are human. No one is a super human. And what’s more, we all see people through our own lenses and expectations. WE put people on pedestals. So when they fall, we are partly to blame. I think there’s some grace in taking some of that blame.”
GRAMMY-nominated singer, songwriter and producer Sean McConnell’s latest collection of songs, A Horrible Beautiful Dream, approaches the difficult task of asking questions of what one really thinks they know, in the simultaneous struggle of not being afraid of the answers that emerge. Musically, the project wraps McConnell’s rich voice in moments of dark intimacy as well as vivid brightness, and guests such as The Wood Brothers, Natalie Hemby, Audra Mae and Dan Tyminski underscore McConnell’s versatility as creative partner and commentator.
McConnell’s goal in the creation of A Horrible Beautiful Dream was an album reflecting the chaotic time in which it was made, but still striving for timelessness. “You can look at the suffering of the world and you can look at the beauty of the world and you can hold them in your hands and just be present with that and not have to even understand it,” he says. A Horrible Beautiful Dream follows McConnell’s Secondhand Smoke (2019).
A revered songwriter and producer, McConnell has written for Christina Aguilera, Michael Franti, Brett Young (including Young’s double-platinum hit “Mercy”), Tim McGraw, Brothers Osborne, Ashley Ray‘s critically acclaimed (Stereogum‘s #8 Best Country Album of 2020, NPR’s #26 Top Album of 2020) Pauline — which he co-wrote and produced — and more.
