Andrew Belle to Release Full-Length Album 'Dive Deep' This August

Chicago-based singer, songwriter, producer and musician, Andrew Belle, is poised to release his third full-length album, Dive Deep, on August 25th. This record, which is currently available for pre-order, is Belle's most personal release to date with its intimate subject matter and Belle's renewed commitment to understanding the world around him through song. Today, Paper Magazine premieres the video for "Down," the first single from the album. "Down" is one of the album's most important and closely felt tracks for Belle, who found inspiration in the song's lyrics in his and his wife's decision to have their first child. "We knew we wanted to start a family but that's also kind of a scary thing, and yet we knew that was something we really wanted to do," he explains. "So we took a leap of faith and did it. When I wrote that song, the chorus is basically describing taking a jump like that and not looking down."

Belle began writing what would eventually become Dive Deep in 2014, a year after releasing and touring around his sophomore album, the ambitious and critically acclaimed Black Bear. It also coincides with a particularly dark time in which Belle lost his voice for over two months, forcing him to confront what his life might look like without music at its center. Gradually, he was able to resume performing and recording the body of work that would become Dive Deep, which he recorded with producer Chad Copelin at Blackwatch Studios in Norman, Oklahoma.

In many ways, Dive Deep picks up where Black Bear left off: the 11-song collection expands on the electronic ambient sounds of its predecessor (which veered sharply from Belle's acoustic-heavy 2010 debut, The Ladder), and isn't short on cerebral, introspective songwriting. Where it evolves from Black Bear, though, is in, appropriately, its depth and in its striking vulnerability. Dive Deep marks the first time Belle has opened himself to co-writers, and sees the new father turning a wizened eye on love and domesticity, as recounted thoughtfully in the title track.

"When I wrote 'Dive Deep,' I was thinking about my wife and our early relationship," Belle says. "I was thinking about the early days, having nostalgia for that initial time spent together where it was all very new and exciting and unknown. Specifically I was remembering that moment where you go from, 'I'm not totally sure about this person,' to, 'Well I'm kind of all in now. This is the person I want to be with.' It's a very scary moment where you expose yourself and put yourself out there vulnerably."

Belle's natural ability to craft such songs have earned him numerous past accolades, like a multi-week stint at number one for The Ladder on iTunes's singer-songwriter chart, a John Lennon Songwriting Contest trophy, a coveted slot on the Ten Out of Tenn tour, and notable song placements on Grey's Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars, a Microsoft commercial, and many, many others.

Where Belle chose a road less traveled on Black Bear, on Dive Deep he's taken to forging his own new path, heart in hand, and he's done so to exhilarating results.

For more information, please visit http://andrewbelle.com/. To request a review copy of Dive Deep, please reply to this email.

Tour dates:

9/12 - San Francisco, CA - Brick + Mortar

9/15 - Seattle - Tractor Tavern

9/16 - Vancouver - Cobalt

9/17 - Portland - Mississippi Studios

9/19 - Sacramento - Harlows

9/20 - Santa Barbara - SoHo

9/21 - San Diego - Space (Hideout)

9/22 - Los Angeles - Troubadour