Grace and the Audiophile team connected on social media originally over a shared love for Hawk Nelson. Grace knew Audiophile was the perfect match for another Hawk Nelson cover, following a year behind her take on “California.”
“There’s something really special about partnering with someone who understands the fandom of Hawk Nelson because they were so iconic,” Grace says.
Audiophile’s frontman Jared Brown not only understands why the band was so iconic — he gets why the messages of songs like “Everything You Ever Wanted” continue to resonate, nearly 20 years later.
“The song’s message feels timeless because everyone needs encouragement,” Jared explains. “You could be on top of the world, you could be in your lowest valley, but there’s always something that’s going to feel incomplete in us until we are with God in Heaven. We will always be struggling for something else in this life. Whether you’ve faced abandonment, or you’ve been in an abusive relationship, or whatever hardship you’ve gone through, I feel like everyone could agree that encouragement would make a positive difference in your life.”
That emphasis on encouragement comes through in the double-time rhythm that Jared Brown found with producer Jackson Scott. Together with Audiophile band members Hayden Finney (guitar) and Josh Baker (drums) and Grace Graber, the collective of fresh punk artists put an upbeat spin on this classic ballad.
Jared reflects, “I think it’s really cool when you can have an emotional song that doesn’t have to be a ballad. It speaks to the depth of the lyrics when they can translate across any tempo or soundscape you use.”
The facelift on the classic perfectly rides the line of maintaining the chill-inducing pathos of the original song while inviting a whole new generation to experience its depth. The result is simultaneously fun and heartfelt.
“For me, this song represents a season of my life where I really I tried to be perfect. Tried to be honest. I tried to do everything the way I was told to do it, and it returned void,” Grace adds. “This is kind of my surrender.”
The song is so significant that it will be the title for Grace’s next EP, the Everything You Ever Wanted EP. Calling it her “burnout an redemption” project, the EP is available for presave now at https://slinky.to/Everything_You_Ever_Wanted.
“This generation feels very hungry for authenticity. It feels very hungry for purpose,” Jared concludes. “This is a great way to speak to that.”
You can stream the song now here.