Pope Francis’ Album 'Wake Up!' Confirmed And Approved By Vatican; Release Date Announced!
Maybe the fact that he once owns a Harley-Davidson motorbike (and sold it later at a Paris auction for charity) would hint that Pope Francis has a bit of a rock star personality. Now, Rolling Stone just reported that Pope Francis'album Wake Up! will be released in November this year.
Pope Francis' album Wake Up! has been approved by the Vatican and is currently worked on by Believe Digital. The Pontiff's upcoming musical work consists of 11 tracks, featuring excerpt from his speeches in multiple languages and delivering sacred hymns. It promises to deliver uplifting messages with the help of various musical arrangements from classic Gregorian chants up to ever familiar pop-rock tunes.
Don Giulio Neroni is the producer and artistic director for Pope Francis' album Wake Up!, who also worked with previous Pontiffs John Paul II and Benedict XVI. According to him, did his best to make the final output of the album closely to Pope Francis' ministry and personality: a Pope of dialogue, open doors, and hospitality.
Loudwire also reports that keyboardist Tony Pagliuca of Italian progressive rock band Le Orme contributed additional work to the Pontiff's album. He revealed that he immediately accepted the collaboration opportunity and the experience for him has been fantastic and at the same time a very interesting challenge. Prior to this, Pagliuca collaborated with international artists such as Peter Hammil and David Jackson of Van Der Graaf Generator.
The album features its first song titled "Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!," which features Pope Francis addressing a South Korean audience in English during his 2014 visit accompanied by synth tracks, trumpeting horns and electric guitar tracks. The song is available for online streaming via Believe Digital's SoundCloud account.
Pope Francis' album Wake Up! will be released on November 27. Interested buyers may pre-order the album via iTunes and will get an instant download of the song "Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!"