It’s been a long road back into the spotlight for American Idol season 11 winner Phillip Phillips. One of the most successful champs from the show’s final years, Phillips’ recording career has been on the shelf for almost three years due to a lawsuit against Idol producers 19 Entertainment. But over the weekend he got back into the game with “Miles,” a stirring ballad with the refrain: “Cause we’re works of art/ We’re falling stars/ We’re fire waiting for a spark/ Yeah, we’re gonna be miles up, up, up/ No, we’re never gonna come down.”
Speaking to People magaizne about his return to the airwaves, Phillips, 26, said, “It has been a tough three years, but it feels so good to have this song out. We have so much more to come.” After scoring a platinum album with his 2012 debut, The World From the Side of the Moon — which included the hits “Home” and “Gone, Gone, Gone” — Phillips’ second album, 2014’s Behind the Light, didn’t fare quite as well.
He filed suit against 19 Recordings in January 2015 citing an “oppressive” working atmosphere; 19 filed a countersuit the next year.
Check out footage from a video for the song:
And listen to the full track:
Speaking to Billboard earlier this year, Phillips said, “every artist says it’s their best to date on every album, but this is some deep, emotional lyrics and melodies and I just really feel like I’ve grown a lot these past few years. I’ve gone through a few things — some amazing things, some not so amazing. I draw a lot of inspiration from that so I’m really excited about getting it out.”
Fans can expect the kind of songs Phillips is best known for, but, you know, better. “There’s a little bit of R&B and blues on this album, and a few more rock songs, but still pop,” he said. “It’s just very emotional, a more emotional meaning towards a lot of these songs. Some of them might sound like a relationship between a man and a woman, but it’s not. I have my own meanings, but I want people to have their own meanings towards them.”