“I’m writing it for me,” Michael said without hesitation when I asked who he’s composing for these days. “I’ve never tried to write a song for Christian radio or pop radio in my whole life.”
If you’re waiting for a new song so you can take a restroom and refill run during the 2025 Michael W. Smith tour, then you’ve picked the wrong show. That is, at least according to the man himself: “I’m not going to play it safe.” With the 2025 releases of Your Love Is a Flood and Arms Around the Sun, he’s crafting layer upon layer in the studio that feels more in line with becoming his catalog’s synth-soaked Pet Sounds than a retread of Go West Young Man.
The final minute of “Your Love Is a Flood” takes a massive turn and we end up in the world of 1980s cinema. Popcorn in hand, sticky floors, and a John Williams–inspired coda that builds to a standing ovation peak. “I went and saw Raiders of the Lost Ark in ’81. It changed my life and I saw it 28 times…About the 14th time I went back again and thought “why do I keep coming back?” It was the music. And that was the year I began to write cinematic music.”
The melody of “Flood” had been collecting metaphorical dust on his hard drive for the last half-decade. It wasn’t until lyricist Jason Walker got involved that it fully took shape. “So I gave it to Jason, and five days later he sent me a lyric idea… and all of a sudden we had a song. I think what we all loved about it was that it is really unpredictable.”
Beyond the studio, MWS has always been known to put on big live shows. At this stage in any artist’s career, a new song can quickly become the zone-out moment for the crowd. I’ve seen it happen at the Stones, Paul McCartney—any act with a catalog of hits. It’s the moment when cell phones start illuminating laps instead of lighting up the stage.
Michael grinned. “(With your ‘Your Love is a Flood’) At first they don’t know what’s going on. But then the second half of the verse comes and you got four-on-the-floor… Yeah, then they are all there.”
The urgency in his career has shifted as well. He is not tossing out material unfinished.
“If this sounds weird, I apologize.” Michael takes a beat and looks me in the eyes.
“I don’t need to do another record… so if I’m going to do one, which I’m excited because songs are falling out of the sky, then I absolutely want to make sure that every song is stellar on every level. And so I get a mix and go what if we did this… all of a sudden it’s three weeks later and we’re still fine-tuning ‘Arms Around the Sun. And it was the same with ‘Flood.’”
He’ll know when it’s ready “It’s got to be right. It’s got to be right, it’s got to be right.”
What’s different now is that the old rules don’t apply. “I’ve never done the single thing and I was a bit nervous. [At first I thought] I don’t think I want to do that. I want to finish a record. I love making albums.” But we live in a new era of music consumption, and Smith is not burying his head in the sand. “It’s a different day. I came from the golden age where people bought a lot of my CDs in the 90s… that was amazing.”
On the flip side, he sees the positive in the ability to get a song out quickly. “I didn’t want to wait until 2026 for people to hear these songs,” he said. “So we just said let’s drop one in May, drop another in July, and there’s another coming in September that I’m really crazy about.”
And while he doesn’t always know how the audience will react, he’s seen enough to know they’re still listening. These days, Michael sees his role as more pastoral than ever. “There are a lot of hurting people out there,” he said. “I’m just reminding people of something that they probably already know… I think I’m just reminding them of what the book says.”
When I pushed him just slightly—“Do you forget… do you feel like you’re writing this for you?”—the look of sincerity washed over his face.
“I’m writing for me.”
“Flood” is less than a week old and he’s already talking about the next single. He says it’s “infectious.” After that, Christmas takes over, with the Christmas Together tour (alongside Amy Grant and CeCe Winans) and his own Every Christmas run at Nashville’s Fisher Center. And yes, his 20 grandkids are sure to be involved.
But until then, we’re in this glorious in-between. Michael W. Smith, the architect of some of Christian music’s most enduring songs, is back in the lab. Not recreating the past. Just creating.
Because if this is what his next chapter sounds like, then open the windows of heaven and let it rain.
For tour dates, visit michaelwsmith.com