Pop Evil is speaking success into reality with their new album, Versatile.
The record's penultimate song, "Same Blood," finds frontman Leigh Kakaty singing, "Finding my footsteps, I'm breathing again, out of the trenches, waking the lions," a reference to past Pop Evil hits "Footsteps," "Trenches" and "Waking Lions," as well as the current Versatile single, "Breathe Again."
"Footsteps," "Trenches" and "Waking Lions" all hit number one on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, a feat achieved by "Breathe Again" earlier this month. While Kakaty couldn't possibly have known that "Breathe Again" would give Pop Evil another number-one hit when he first wrote it, he tells ABC Audio he did have a special feeling about the song.
"'Breathe Again' was one we felt very strongly about," Kakaty recalls. "It was one that was really important to me at the moment."
"Obviously I love all the songs that I write and the band writes, but there's always...one or two songs that really resonate," he explains. "All those songs I mention in that particular self-reference are ones that had personal meaning for me...to help me get through tough times."
Kakaty adds that the reference is also a shout-out to fans who use Pop Evil song titles and lyrics in their messages and posts about the band.
"As we started to explore it, it literally happened in five minutes," Kakaty says. "That's when you know something's special, 'cause it just falls into place."
That "Same Blood" line, Kakaty feels, represents Pop Evil's all fun, no rules approach to Versatile, which focused on answering the question: "What songs can we create that are gonna add more of an energy to our live show?"
"[We're] just doing different, just creating opportunity and growing our musical catalog," he says.
Versatile is out today.