The story behind Abbie Gamboa and Aodhán King’s first collaborative album, “Throwing Paint,” is just as compelling as the project itself.
UPPERROOM’s Gamboa and Young & Free's King first met when Gamboa had a show in Los Angeles. King joined her on stage for a performance of Gamboa’s “Love Note.” From there, a friendship developed between the two kindred spirits, who have respectively released solo debuts. Gamboa dropped “pure” in 2023, and King bowed “Beyond Us” in 2024.
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While the like-minded friends repeatedly discussed the idea of working together, neither could find adequate time on their calendars. That is, until they stumbled upon a mutual free week in July. So, they decided to book a studio near Dallas, Texas, and settle in for one massive experiment. Their mission: Make a full album in six days. No pre-written songs. No overthinking.
Given that an entire record is normally anywhere from months to years in the making, six days feels like a tall order. With a small circle of musicians, however, Gamboa and King entered the studio with equal parts anticipation and anxiety.
Together, over the course of the next week, the friends hunkered down and got to work. With Gamboa’s newborn daughter often resting in her arms, they feverishly wrote and recorded what would become “Throwing Paint,” decorating a blank canvas with their collective creativity.
The album’s name, in and of itself, feels appropriate since Gamboa and King seemed to be throwing out their best ideas at breakneck pace in the hopes that something might stick. They invited listeners into the unorthodox process by documenting their progress on social media.
Although Gamboa and King started the week unsure of what would transpire, “Throwing Paint” is unusually satisfying and surprisingly well-crafted. They only broke their “no pre-written songs” rule one time, choosing to include a new recording of “Love Note,” the poetic ballad that brought them together. Otherwise, the remaining from-scratch offerings are fresh from the oven. And regardless of the finite timeline, these songs are just as good, if not better, than anything they’ve released on their own.
“I honestly had no idea what to expect going in. All I knew was I had six days to make an album with someone I’ve never written or worked with before,” King says. “Within the first two hours, we had already finished our first song, ‘Privilege.’ It felt pretty obvious that God was in it. The chemistry and unity amongst all of the guys was almost too good. The rest of the week still feels like a blur, kind of like that disoriented feeling you have inside the barrel of a wave — [you] can’t exactly tell what’s going on, but you’re moving somewhere.”
Instead of looking at their time constraint as a negative force, the pair of skilled songwriters used it to their advantage. Their resolve had to be sure. Their revisions had to be few, and any second-guessing had to be nonexistent.
The final result? A beautiful tapestry of pure, unfiltered, experimental worship. Gamboa and King share lead on each of the project’s 10 tracks with their distinct vocals intertwining seamlessly.
For those who give “Throwing Paint” nothing more than a cursory listen, they might mistake the LP for a pop record. Sonically, it’s a relevant and easy listen. Lyrically, it’s just vague enough — at times — to be talking about romantic love. Yet, a deeper dive reveals all 10 tracks to be about their first love. Immediate standout “Obsessed” is one of the album’s best examples of its mainstream appeal with a pop-leaning melody and catchy chorus.
Like the infectious “Obsessed,” originals such as opening cut “Privilege” and the pulsating “Deep” serve up intentional moments tailor-made for a singalong. Meanwhile, closing selection “U R Everything” feels like a cinematic soundtrack to a modern-day romcom as it reiterates how the Lord feels about His children. Although several selections serve up vertical worship, multiple songs are written from the vantage point of God singing over His kids.
The exquisite “Behold The King” offers the type of reverence you might expect from these two innovative creatives: regal, articulate, passionate praise. Meanwhile, reflective offerings such as pendulum swing “Highs And Lows,” the vulnerable “Honest Thoughts” and peace-inducing lullaby “Father God,” deliver diaristic confessions, always drawing the conclusion that God is good and kind.
If this is what comes out when Gamboa and King join forces with zero prep and a short window of time, imagine what they could create if they worked together over a longer period. But perhaps that’s not the point. In truth, “Throwing Paint” probably wouldn’t be the anomaly it is if the pair had given themselves the luxury of time or tweaking. There’s a specific magic they were able to capture in the studio because of the time constraint, not in spite of it.
If anything, their bold experiment demonstrates God isn’t limited to the traditional ways of doing things. Creativity can flourish just about anywhere when given the opportunity. And “Throwing Paint” is proof that when two friends are brave and humble enough to allow God to lead, the ticking clock is simply an incentive to stay focused.
“I really hope these songs touch places that we can’t even imagine. Like any music that you put out into the world, I feel that because of the nature of this project being that we just created something intentionally, but kind of blindly, we don’t really know what we’re doing,” Gamboa admits, “and I really feel like the Lord is going to use that to touch on places in people that are unexpected.”
