By Salt 106.5 Network Wednesday 23 Oct 2024MusicReading Time: 2 minutes
As a founding member of Hillsong’s youth band Young & Free, Aodhan King was at a crossroads in 2021.
Key Points:
- After being a founding member of Young & Free, Aodhan King is releasing his first solo album.
- On October 18 Aodhan released his debut solo worship album Beyond Us which “really is me discovering my voice”.
- Watch Laura’s conversation with Aodhan in the video below.
The pandemic put an end to the Grammy-nominated band’s rigorous touring schedule, weekly church services were suspended and Aodhan had just moved to LA as Hillsong faced the fall-out from global leadership scandals.
The future of the band, and Aodhan’s career in songwriting, were in doubt.
“For a period of time I thought maybe I needed to do something different,” Aodhan told Hope 103.2.
After being a founding member of Young & Free, Aodhan King is releasing his first solo album.
“Hillsong was changing so much.”
In LA, Aodhan had the opportunity to record a solo pop album with SB Projects – the entertainment company led by Justin Bieber’s former manager Scoot Braun – but instead of changing course, he doubled down on writing worship songs.
“I was asking God for clarity all the time,” Aodhan said.
“I realised the one thing I like to do more than anything is write worship songs and songs that connect to God.
“I never wanted to be a pop star – that was never my desire – and I think [that] scared me away from ever going that way.”
On October 18 Aodhan released his debut solo worship album Beyond Us which “really is me discovering my voice”.
On October 18 Aodhan released his debut solo worship album Beyond Us which “really is me discovering my voice”.
“[In Young & Free] we were writing for our youth context,” Aodhan said.
“We’re singing to a generation of young people who were going through things maybe different to what I was – [but on Beyond Us] I’ve been able to have more freedom.
“This record is really just what’s God’s being doing in me.”
Part of that reflects Aodhan’s renewed desire to point attention toward God, and “the thing that unifies us”.
“God is bigger than all of us and it makes our problems seem so small.
“Jesus changed my life. He gave me purpose [and] filled me with so much peace and clarity.
“In a lot of ways [the changes at Hillsong] just fired me up even more.”
Beyond Us is out now.
Watch Laura’s conversation with Aodhan in the video above.
Feature image: photo supplied by artist management and used with permission