Former Flyleaf singer Lacey Sturm returns to music with her debut single as a solo artist, ‘Impossible’, screaming into the top five of the iTunes Rock Top Songs chart. The single reached as high as No. 2 on the chart while continuing to gain momentum as news about Lacey‘s return went viral and following SiriusXM Octane‘s premiere of the song November 1. In rotation now at Octane and going for radio adds everywhere Monday, November 9, ‘Impossible’ marks the first single from Lacey‘s highly anticipated solo debut, ‘Life Screams’, set to release independently in early 2016 on Followspot Records with The Fuel Music distribution.
The vocalist and songwriter who delivered rock anthems like ‘Again’, ‘All Around Me’, ‘I’m So Sick’ and ‘Fully Alive’ to the top of the retail and radio charts, Lacey shares the impetus behind ‘Impossible’ on her Instagram: “I still have a fire in me to be a voice of love to people who feel unloved… For me, today is the beginning of new ways to live the impossible, and I have so much faith, hope and love in my soul.”
After news of Lacey‘s return was released last Friday, widespread social media exposure followed Lacey‘s Instagram scavenger hunt for eight hidden square pieces of the “Life Screams” cover artwork. It took less than an hour for not just one, but hundreds of Lacey‘s Instagram followers to discover and assemble the pieces revealing the full cover artwork. The images were found “hidden” on Brian “Head” Welch (Korn), Sonny Sandoval (P.O.D.), Korey Cooper and Jen Ledger (Skillet), and others’ Instagram sites.
Three years after amicably parting ways with Flyleaf, Lacey exclaimed, “I was listening to the radio one day and I said to myself, ‘If I hear one more song telling people to kill themselves and go to hell, I’m going to have to put a record out!'”
Approaching her latest creative phase with newfound perspective and appreciation, “Life Screams” organically grew out of a community of artists in Lacey‘s hometown of Pittsburgh. Through this community, Lacey‘s live band formed and have already performed for crowds in the tens of thousands with major rock festivals booked in 2016.
“We have written songs with our friends in their houses and in our living room and basement, and we have been learning a lot about love and not taking life for granted,” says Lacey. “We’ve learned that if we have the miracle of breath in our lungs and a voice in our heart, then we should use it for love.”
Sturm last year opened up about some of the reasons why she quit Flyleaf in the fall of 2012, shortly before the release of the band’s third album, “New Horizons”. Speaking in a video to promote her memoir, Sturm said that several events, including getting married, having a baby and enduring the death of the band’s sound engineer Rich Caldwell changed her priorities.
Sturm explained: “The one that hit the hardest was the death of our sound engineer. We did one last show with Flyleaf as a benefit for his wife Katy and their son Kirby. And it was really hard to do a show without him, and it was really hard to think it could be our last show. So I remember looking at my son after Rich had passed and just wondering to myself, if this was the last year I had with my son, how would I spend it?”
Sturm added: “It was really amazing to recognize this season changing in my life and the freedom that I was gonna be able to focus on my family. And I’m so thankful for that time. And although it was really hard, I’m thankful. And that’s the reason I stepped down from Flyleaf.”
Flyleaf recruited singer Kristen May as Sturm‘s replacement and released its fourth album, “Between The Stars”, in September 2014.
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Video below: ‘Impossible’