![\"M-32-daughtry\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/M-32-daughtry.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nWhen the band\u2019s namesake and frontman Chris Daughtry set out to write his fourth album, Baptized<\/i>, he wasn\u2019t expecting it to come together so quickly. \u201cI started in January with the idea of writing these songs, doing the demos, and maybe getting the record out by the end of 2014,\u201d says Daughtry, 33. \u201cWhich would have meant we\u2019d be in the studio\u00a0right now, still recording.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the work was sped along by an unorthodox recording process. \u201cEssentially, I would record as I went,\u201d he explains. \u201cI\u2019d record songs that were going to be demos, but we were capturing the energy right then and there, and they were sounding so incredible. The label was freaking out over them, and I felt these songs were too good. I felt they needed to be heard now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seven years\u2014and three albums\u2014after Daughtry first burst onto the scene as a competitor on American Idol<\/i>, the change of pace was especially welcome. From the earliest planning stages, Daughtry wanted to approach Baptized<\/i> differently. \u201cThere\u2019s a comfort level that takes place that almost allows you to keep recycling or repeating yourself\u2014and I didn\u2019t want that,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted to shake it up. After writing three records, you tend to sit\u00a0and go, \u2018I don\u2019t even know what the hell I want to write about.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Daughtry brought in a new team of co-songwriters, including megahit-makers Claude Kelly, Martin Johnson and former Idol<\/i> judge Kara DioGuardi. The new partnerships offered a fresh perspective as well as a confidence boost. In particular, his initial writing sessions with Kelly were a springboard that determined the course of the album. \u201cClaude was actually one of the first people I worked with for this record,\u201d he says. \u201cWe wrote \u2018Broken Arrows\u2019 first, and then we wrote \u2018Baptized,\u2019 and I remember thinking at the time it was the best song I\u2019d ever written. I walked out of that session feeling like I\u2019d just written the best thing ever. And at the end of the writing for this record, they still stood out as some of my favorite songs. I always felt after writing \u2018Baptized\u2019 that it should be the name of the album.\u201d<\/p>\n
With renewed energy, Daughtry also embraced a new approach to writing lyrics. \u201cWe wanted this record to be more picturesque,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted it to be less about \u2018I\u2019m feeling this\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019m feeling that,\u2019 but rather I wanted the stories to really be visual. Certain songs have a bit of humor to them, and I\u2019ve never really done that before. I\u2019m actually not a doom-and-gloom guy. People don\u2019t know that about me because everything has been so serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Amanda Farah<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DAUGHTRY\u00a0 \u00a0 The former Idol rocker picks up the pace on his latest set\u00a0 When the band\u2019s namesake and frontman Chris Daughtry set out to write his fourth album, Baptized, he wasn\u2019t expecting it to come together so quickly. \u201cI started in January with the idea of writing these songs, doing the demos, and maybe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[3855,7403],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12332"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12334,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12332\/revisions\/12334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}