Among Christian music’s most recognizable faces and voices for more than two decades, singer/songwriter, author and New Zealand native Phil Joel releases “Arms Around The World” today (Aug. 11) at digital and streaming outlets globally from The Fuel Music via https://slinky.to/ArmsAroundTheWorld. The single is the fourth in a series of new songs to debut from the multi-artist A New Heaven And A New Earth project that is slated to premiere winter 2023 / 2024.

Written by Joel and produced by Brent Milligan (Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman), “Arms Around The World” is a pop anthem meant to ignite people’s enthusiasm for embracing creation care.

“This is the planet that God’s given us, and we need to be good stewards of it,” suggests Joel. “Sadly, I don’t think we’ve really done a great job in the last 50 years, but thankfully God always provides ways to see things restored, redeemed and replenished. Just like we understand with our own lives, God’s filled the earth with all kinds of ways to regenerate itself… This gets me excited. It’s not doom and gloom at all. We can be a part of creating a new heaven and a new earth.”

Send up a flare

Let it linger in the sky

Let her know we see the tears she cries

I wanna throw my arms around the world

Throw my arms around the world

(Lyrics from “Arms Round The World”)

With his son Eden joining him on the song on both guitar and drums, and his daughter Phynley singing background, Phil shares, “My son is 19, and my daughter is 22, and they want to know that people of faith care about some of the things they care about, which includes looking after this environment, making sure that they have a future, and making sure that their children’s children have a future on this planet that we look after.”

Along with his music, Phil and his wife Heather recently opened The Green Room in Franklin, TN, an earth and people friendly store in Franklin, TN, selling non-toxic, cruelty free, sustainable home goods, gifts and furnishings meant to be a part of the solution.

Joel’s single follows the A New Heaven And A New Earth tracks from GRAMMY®-nominated, Dove Award-winning Building 429 lead vocalist Jason Roy, “It’s All Yours,” recording artist, actress and producer MŌRIAH, “You Mean The World,” and two-time Dove Award-winning, three-time No.1 Billboard-charting, Stellar Award-nominated Aaron Cole, “Together.”

Additional songs have been produced for the A New Heaven And A New Earth project by well-known Christian artists that felt led to participate, responding to the call to write and record a song on taking care of Creation. The songs, collectively covering rock, pop, hip hop, R&B, indie, folk/ Americana and more musical genres, are being released as singles monthly through November 17, 2023, with a full A New Heaven and A New Earth album slated to launch this coming winter.

About Phil Joel:

Auckland, New Zealand native Phil Joel first arrived in the United States in 1994 to join one of Christian music’s most iconic bands, Newsboys. During his 12-year tenure in the GRAMMY®-nominated, Platinum®-selling group, Joel was featured on such seminal albums as Take Me To Your Leader and Step Up To The Microphone. Rejoining Newsboys in 2018, along with founding member Peter Furler, the supergroup has since played hundreds of shows around the country and released Newsboys United in 2019. In addition, Joel has seven solo recordings to his credit; he founded and fronted the acclaimed worship band Zealand; and his first book, Redwoods and Whales: Becoming Who You Actually Are—a collection of personal stories and truths learned from his life and musical journey—was published in 2019 by Thomas Nelson’s Emanate Books. His latest solo album, Better Than I Found It, released in 2021.

For more Phil Joel touring, music and news, visit https://www.philjoel.com/, Bands in Town, YouTube, Apple Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, Facebook and Instagram.

About The Fuel Music:

Established in 2008, The Fuel Music & Management, LLC, is a leading artist management and artist solutions company that independently distributes music internationally. Based in Nashville, TN, the Fuel team brings nearly 70 years of combined music industry experience in record label operations, major label distribution and marketing, and artist management for artists ranging from upstart bands to GRAMMY Award-winning, multi-platinum artists. More information on the company can be found at www.thefuelmusic.com.

Courtesy of Hoganson Media Relations