Evangeline

The country star says the orchestral ‘Evangeline vs. the Machine’ is related to his gospel-rooted performance at Stagecoach 2024.

Yet this week the singer and songwriter, who will turn 48 on Saturday, returns to music with “Evangeline vs. the Machine,” his first album since 2021.

Produced by his longtime collaborator Jay Joyce, “Evangeline” moves away from the hard-rocking sound of earlier tunes like “Springsteen,” “Give Me Back My Hometown” and the weed enthusiast’s “Smoke a Little Smoke” toward a lusher, more orchestral vibe complete with strings, horns and a choir.

Church, who’s married with two sons — and who will take “Evangeline” on tour this fall, including a Nov. 15 stop at Inglewood’s Intuit Dome — called from Nashville to talk about the Stagecoach set, the new album and his hobnobbing with billionaires.

I hear “Evangeline vs. the Machine” as being on a continuum with Stagecoach.