When I asked The Band Perry to describe their future direction in one word, these were their replies:

Kimberly: Future.

Neil: Forward.

Reid: Fun.

For siblings Kimberly, Reid and Neil Perry, these three words are symbolic of not only their highly anticipated third studio album but also their refreshed perspective after a year of radio silence. The Band Perry, who burst onto the music scene with their smash hit, “If I Die Young” in 2010, announced their departure from Big Machine Label Group and Republic Nashville in March 2016. Although they inked a new deal with Interscope Records, speculation surrounding the future of the band became the center of a media frenzy, leaving many to wonder just what the multiplatinum, Grammy-winning trio’s future holds.

I caught up with the Perrys before their show in Reno, Nevada to chat about what fans can expect from their new album as well as the story behind their new anthemic single, “Comeback Kid.”

Was Comeback Kid on the original track list for Heart + Beat? Or did it come about more recently?

KP: We found in our career the boldest steps have always been the biggest and most important ones. ‘Better Dig Two’ was super bold when we came out with that and debuted it on the CMA performance. There were a lot of jaws on the floor there, too. But, no [Comeback Kid] was not on the original track listing of course.

We were so blessed to get to come out of the gates with a big song in ‘If I Die Young’ and continue that process through ‘Done’, but it seemed like the one moment that we really were challenging ourselves to grow, all these other voices tried to—without even hearing our music—tell their version of our story. So, ‘Comeback Kid’ is sort of our response to all of that. It is a very personal story, but what I love most is that our fans have taken it and it’s been holding their hand through whatever they’re struggling with. I love that it can be that best friend for someone who’s needing that song to walk them through a tough time.

How has your creative process transitioned along with the change that has surrounded you in the last year?

KP: Heart + Beat was a really fun, bombastic, joyous album and this record definitely has those touchstones, but there’s so much more gravity that’s come into our world over the last ten months. We have to honor that spirit and what we’ve learned in the middle of that. It’s not that we’ve been making the same album for two years, we’ve been making almost three albums. The first six months (of songwriting) was all exclusively written in Nashville and just didn’t feel next-level for us, then Heart + Beat, and now this new era.

NP: It’s interesting. After three years of writing you would think at some point we’d start writing about the same thing over and over again, but we’ve had completely new experiences that have come up that we’ve been able to respond to and I think ‘Comeback Kid’ is the best example of that.

What can fans expect on the new record with the new variety of influence?

RP: It’s going to be a Band Perry album, which is what we’ve always done. Especially if you look at the transition from our first album to the second album, they’re completely different sounds. One reason why we did that was we had grown, so we were following in love with different kinds of music and also because we wanted our live show to grow as well. For this album, I say the growth continues.

NP: And for the three of us, we’re not only performers and artists, but we’re also the writers of our music as well. So for us, we love listening to new things and taking in old things as well and putting our spin on everything. So for us to see all types of people come to our show and enjoy our music, that’s the most exciting thing we get to experience. When they’re singing the words back to us, I think that’s what’s really exciting for the three of us.

KP: We really love the idea of blending people from different worlds and putting them together because—number one that’s just exciting. Number two, a lot of people talk about genre lines a lot and it seems like it brings more division than togetherness. In our view, music—at least this next phase for us—is all about togetherness and embracing this journey of life together.

Rylee Pedotti can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_arts on Twitter.