By Alan Sculley
Martin Cash of We The Kingdom admits it might seem odd that the Christian group chose to make their second album a self-titled effort. That’s usually a title bands reserve for their debut albums.
“I think it’s ironic that it ended up being self-titled because to be honest, in the beginning that option was thrown out because we couldn’t agree on any other name. Someone at some point was like ‘Hey, why don’t we just call it ‘We The Kingdom’ and call it like a day,”
Cash said during a recent phone interview. “At first we were like ‘Ah that feels like a cop out. That feels like throwing in the towel.’ But the irony is that I really think this album highlights the individual members of We The Kingdom because throughout the album there were particular people that started certain songs and we all kind of jumped in to finish them.”
“(It says) Hey, we are a team. We are all in this together,” he said. “As you look down the list, it’s almost like Ah, I remember, that’s kind of Franni’s song that she started and we came around and finished it. That was a really cool and different, unique thing that happened with the album, where it was still collaborative, but there were just individuals who started songs and brought them to the rest of the band that we then all finished.”
It makes sense that the five members of We The Kingdom would grow more collaborative. After all, this is essentially a family band that’s very accustomed to being around each other. The band includes Ed Cash, his brother, Scott Cash, Ed’s son and daughter, Martin Cash and Franni Rae Cash-Cain, and long-time friend Andrew Bergthold, We The Kingdom became a group after writing several songs while the five musicians were serving as worship leaders during a stint at a Young Life camp in 2008.
The band got signed by Capitol Records’ Christian Music Group, and debuted in 2019 with a six-song concert EP, “Live at the Wheelhouse.” That release contained a version of the song “Holy Water,” which topped the Christian Airplay singles chart. The studio version of that song became the title track for the “Holy Water” studio album, and in April 2020 the song landed atop three different Christian music charts. Two more top-5 singles, “God So Loved” and “Child of Love,” followed, as We The Kingdom became one of the fastest-rising acts in Christian music.
So far, the self-titled album has generated a top 15 single in “Miracle Power,” a top 30 single in “Jesus Does” and more singles could still be released. In making the “We The Kingdom” album, the five band members grew more collaborative as songwriters, drew on some different influences (Martin mentioned Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and the Smash Mouth hit “All Star” as prime examples) and experimented with new tones and sonics. In the end, the band emerged with an album full of strong songs that are a bit more energetic overall than the “Holy Water” album.
Cash said doing a second album presented We The Kingdom with plenty of questions about the next musical step the band should make. “With our first album, you’re starting from zero. You have no reference for what people like from you, the sound,” he explained.
“If say, they gravitate toward ‘Holy Water,’ you struggle with should we write more records like ‘Holy Water,’ that same sound? But then the creative in you is going ‘No, we’ve already done that. How do we continue reinventing ourselves and pushing the envelope, but still offering the same sound people fell in love with?’ So that was a struggle with the self-titled album. I’m personally super pleased with how it turned out.”
We The Kingdom is back out playing headlining shows after starting the year co-headlining the multi-band Winter Jam, one of the year’s biggest Christian music tours. That outing initially caused the band some concerns, because when We The Kingdom took the stage, it was later in the evening and they were seeing a significant number of people who were either leaving during their set or before We The Kingdom took the stage.
After a number of discussions, Cash said, they came to feel people were leaving for logistical reasons – such as needing to get home to meet up with babysitters or the younger fans had curfews. Cash feels that experience will only help the band, even with headlining shows.
“There was talk of like are we playing the right songs? Should we play more songs that are hooky, kind of cheap tricks you can get into to get people to stay?” Cash revealed. “But at the end of the day, the point is not to force them to stay. It’s to play to the ones that are there. It’s a lesson, but it’s a good one.”
We the Kingdom will be playing at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Tuesday.
