A combination of sacred and secular music — including covers of songs by Earth, Wind & Fire, Maxwell, Al Green, Michael Jackson and Lynyrd Skynyrd — will appear on the self-titled debut album from the Alabama a capella group Committed, winner of the second season of NBC’s “The Sing-Off.”
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“We wanted to be true to who we are,” the group’s Therry Thomas tells Billboard.com. “We’re singers who love a capella music and singers who happen to be Christian. Christian music is inspirational. It’s love music. We wanted to have an album with real-life music. Christians go through breakups and love and all that stuff. We just wanted it to be real, and to not offend anybody.”
Video: Committed sings Michael Jackson’s “Hold My Hand”
“Committed,” due out Aug. 30, will include the sextet’s rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Hold My Hand” that it performed during “The Sing-Off.” Other covers include Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together,” Maxwell’s “Pretty Wings,” Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” and “a new spin” on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” “We’re just trying to pay homage to our home state,” Thomas says. “We’ve been living in Huntsville the last six years, so we also wanted to pay tribute to our supporters from there. It was a lot of fun. It’s a nice new spin to an old song.”
“Committed’s” spiritual fare, meanwhile, include the Thomas-written “Break Free,” which will be the album’s first single, as well as a version of “Soon I Will Be Done” arranged by Take 6’s Cedric Dent and featuring a guest vocal by that group’s Joey Kibble. Take 6’s Dave Thomas, meanwhile, wrote the “Committed” track “Do Anything,” while former group member Mervyn Warren composed “That’s When I’ll Get Over You.”
Committed has already started a summer tour to advance “Committed’s” release. “We’re going to be building our fan base and perfecting our show,” says the group’s Dennis “DJ” Baptiste. “Then once August comes and the album is out, we’re just gonna promote, promote, promote everywhere.” The schedule includes performances July 1-2 at the 17th Annual Essence Music Festival in New Orleans and a return to “The Sing-Off” when its third season gets under way on Sept. 19.
“Before ‘The Sing-Off’ we were just normal people,” Thomas says with a laugh, “just into singing around, singing in choirs and stuff like that. But since the show, people recognize us randomly in Wal-Mart and the airport. People ask for autographs…A lot has changed.” Adds Baptiste, “It’s crazy to be looked at like that now. To me I’m the same person I was before ‘The Sing-Off;’ all we did was go sing on a TV show, and now all of a sudden people are going crazy and crying when they come to see us. That love and support from fans is probably the most surprising thing to me.”