As fast as Chris Tomlin’s ride to multiple Dove Award winner, double GRAMMY nominee, regular radio chart topper and the undisputed title as the most sung Christian artist on earth may seem, it’s actually been a slow build for the singer/songwriter/worship leader.

In fact, the release of the brand-new Hello Love (sixsteps) has the Texas native turned Atlanta-bound artist feeling a bit nostalgic, recalling his very first professional interview was with CCM Magazine in 2001 (with this very same journalist no less), while also pondering an extraordinary career ascent.

“The progression was quite a slow process at first for me with radio, and my first two records didn’t have that much play at all,” says the tunesmith, who first found fame in the Passion worship movement (a praise collective he’s still very much a part of today). “But then when Arriving came out [in 2004], everything started clicking with songs like ‘How Great Is Our God’ and ‘Holy Is the Lord.’ I loved following my songs around. The songs were way more popular than me, which is good; and I still like it that way!”

These days though, it’s hard for Tomlin to stay as anonymous with literally millions of listeners finally putting a face with a name and escalating his celebrity status of sorts. Nonetheless, the troubadour keeps a particularly low profile within the public eye, always gives credit to any album/concert contributor and is never boastful of global achievements. Instead, he gives thanks to God for the platform and hopes the music from Hello Love makes much more of an impact than the messenger.

“We’ve been really intentional with sixstepsrecords—the little company we started awhile back—and that was to write songs for the church, not just for radio hits and record sales,” he asserts. “My heart is to see these songs go to the church, and I’ve always felt the responsibility for that and also felt like God’s given me a gift for that. So I write in such a way that hopefully bridges the gaps of generations and different cultures. I always say, ‘The Holy Spirit is your best publisher,’ and He’s the one who takes these songs and puts them in the hearts of people.”

And there’s plenty of potential to move the masses on the new project, which updates Tomlin’s anthemic, modern worship aesthetic over a concept that revolves around the Lord’s greatest commandment. As the title implies, adoration is indeed at the album’s epicenter, from the joyful praise of “Sing, Sing, Sing,” to the outreach oriented “Love” to the prayerful “Praise the Father, Praise the Son” and even the re-tooled hymn “All the Way My Savior Leads Me.”