10 March 2023 – Nashville, TN – The genesis of LEELAND’s new album 'City of God' came from their desire to fearlessly explore a pastoral and prophetic voice of worship where songs are sung together and over the people of God. The 11 new songs are centered around the thematic of Psalm 46 through thoughtful and innovative songwriting. Recorded in a live rehearsal room with no audience but special guest artists including TAYA, Charity Gayle, Rita Springer, Vanessa Hill, and Lauren Strahm (Fleurie), an expansive soundscape is captured on each of the new songs. ‘City of God’ unpacks three layers of the project’s foundational Scripture in songs of hope for the midst of trouble, songs of intimacy and safety, and songs of God’s justice. Initially sparked in the chaos of the pandemic, the inspiration is for it to be a prophetic oeuvre making space for meditation. It also captures the profound power of art to invite people inside a divine world brought alive through music, pushing conversations around artistic pursuit forward within the Church.

"This album started with old testament stories and a piano in my living room," frontman Leeland Mooring says. "[Through stories], God began to show me, whether it was Moses in Egypt, Noah and the ark, or Daniel in Babylon, that God always had a redemptive plan in the midst of great darkness."

What started as an exercise of hope began to manifest itself out as short story songs and parable-like music that wasn’t something LEELAND recognized as corporate worship at first, but more as something that would be sung over the body of Christ: "That’s what God released us to do," Mooring continues, "He spoke to Casey and I and said, 'This time I want you to sing over my people, not just with them.'"