Judah & The Lion return with Gravel Roads, a warm, sun-drenched love song shaped by porch swings, sweet tea, lake days and small-town Saturdays. Blending pop-country, folk and rock, the track offers a glimpse into I AM A PRISM, the duo’s recent and most personal album yet.

The song draws heavily on Judah’s childhood in a small Tennessee town on a lake. Its images of trips to the water with his dad, sharing beers, college football and the slower pace of Southern life come from real memories. Judah says the band wanted Gravel Roads to feel light-hearted and nostalgic, capturing the feeling of returning home and reconnecting with the people and experiences that shaped you.

That idea of home is central to the song, but it also reflects the wider musical identity of the new album. Judah says the band were not consciously trying to create a new sound. Instead, Gravel Roads brings together the influences they have carried throughout their career: Southern and folk traditions alongside rock, with his long-standing love of British bands including Oasis, The Cure and U2.

The result is a song that feels distinctly Southern without being limited by its setting. Judah hopes listeners will recognise their own version of home in it, whether that means a particular town, family tradition or place that shaped them.

The title I AM A PRISM came to Judah spontaneously while writing the song Prism. Previous albums explored grief, loss and difficult periods, and the new title reflects his belief that painful experiences can be transformed into something meaningful. Like light passing through a prism and becoming colour, he believes people can turn heartbreak, pain and joy into something others can connect with.

That philosophy has encouraged Judah to become more direct and vulnerable in his songwriting. He says he sometimes worries about revealing too much, but the work of Frightened Rabbit and the late Scott Hutchison helped him understand the value of emotional honesty. Hutchison’s willingness to confront difficult experiences gave Judah permission to do the same.

“I never want to bullshit an audience,” he says. While his songs still use poetry and imagery, he believes listeners connect most deeply when the writing comes from real life.

That approach is particularly clear on As the Crow and Powerless. As the Crow was written on the night Judah’s younger cousin, Axl, died, documenting his grief as it happened. Powerless, meanwhile, explores his struggles with addiction and the difficult realisation that something he believed he could control was actually beyond his control. Both songs were challenging to write, but Judah considers them among the most meaningful work he has created.

Nearly a decade into their career, Judah & The Lion can look back on their early years with a mixture of pride and disbelief. The band once travelled in a van and played around 250 shows a year, without a detailed career plan. They simply believed in their songs, worked hard and kept moving forward. The success of Take It All Back, which went double platinum, was far beyond anything they expected.

Judah believes the band’s growth is about more than commercial success. They have matured as musicians, songwriters and people. His advice to their younger selves, and to emerging artists, remains simple: keep going, find your voice, work hard and write honest songs. You never know where those songs might take you.



For Judah & The Lion, that journey has included moments far beyond the small venues where they started. Maybe The Best Is Now reached a huge international audience through World Cup broadcasting. As passionate sports fans, Judah and Brian found the experience surreal, but it also demonstrated how music can become part of people’s lives in unexpected ways.

Judah says there is a special responsibility that comes with knowing your songs have become part of someone else’s celebrations, milestones or difficult seasons. He had imagined those possibilities while writing Maybe The Best Is Now, hoping music could bring people together and make important moments even more memorable.

Despite more than 900 million career streams, Judah says the band still has to resist treating numbers as the definition of success. In an industry that constantly measures attention through streams, views and other statistics, it can be tempting to chase the next milestone.

Instead, Judah and Brian return to a more important question: why are they making music? For Judah, success means creating songs that help people, bring communities together or put a little more love and light into the world. He admits his competitive side still notices the numbers, but believes building a career around them ultimately leads to dissatisfaction.

Their older albums have become personal time capsules. Listening back can transport Judah to the emotions he felt when each song was written—pain, anger, grief or hope. Performing those songs years later can also show him how much he has changed. For him, that is evidence that life moves forward and healing is possible.

The response to Pep Talks reinforced another important lesson. Written during a period of anxiety, depression, panic attacks and family turmoil, the album was deeply personal. Judah never expected so many people to identify with it. Its success showed him that the more specific and honest a songwriter becomes, the more universal the resulting music can be.

That belief also influences how the duo approach live performances. Judah & The Lion write records with the stage in mind, considering how each song will feel in front of an audience. Their music can work in an intimate club or a huge festival without losing its emotional core. Production decisions are made with that connection in mind, ensuring the songs can translate beyond the studio.

Visually, Judah imagines I AM A PRISM as metallic silver. The band often discuss colours while making records, inspired by artists who create strong visual identities. Silver feels appropriate because it reflects light, connecting with the album’s theme of transforming difficult experiences into something beautiful.

The band’s approach to the music industry has also remained grounded. Although viral moments can create huge exposure, Judah believes lasting careers are built through live shows and genuine relationships with audiences. Being “road warriors” has always been part of the band’s identity, and he sees that connection as one of the most sustainable ways to build longevity.

He is also wary of losing the human element of songwriting. AI may become an increasingly powerful creative tool, but it has not experienced heartbreak, loss, joy, forgiveness or hope. For Judah, those human experiences are what make songs matter and what audiences will continue to seek.

Hope is a particularly interesting part of his writing. Although Judah’s songs can sound optimistic, they are often written when he feels anything but hopeful. He describes some songs as “a cry for help”, explaining that he writes towards the person he hopes to become rather than simply describing who he is at that moment. Performing those songs repeatedly can eventually help him reach the place he was writing towards.

Gravel Roads contains that same mixture of warmth and humanity. Judah hopes listeners notice a small detail where the song counts the wine glasses—a moment he expects could become a fun live interaction. It reflects his love of ordinary details that reveal something larger about people and their lives.

Ultimately, I AM A PRISM is about transformation. Judah describes Pep Talks and Revival as the caterpillar, records shaped by pain and struggle. The Process represents the cocoon, the difficult period of change. I AM A PRISM is the butterfly emerging.

His hope is that listeners finish the album feeling freer, lighter and more hopeful. If the record can encourage someone to embrace who they are, spread their wings and appreciate the life they have, Judah believes the band will have achieved what they set out to do.

Order I AM PRISM here.