Worship leader and songwriter Kim Walker-Smith has given voice to some of the most popular modern anthems of the century, including “How He Loves,” “Throne Room,” “Protector” and “Holy Spirit.” She continues that tradition with 12 new songs from the recently released new project, “Trample.” The album includes songs such as “Boxes,” “Let Revival In,” “The Glory” and “Mercy Seat.” For the artist, “Trample” represents a return to victory, after what she calls a dry season.

For many years, Walker-Smith was a lead vocalist for the worship band Jesus Culture and lived in California, but nearly four years ago, she left the group and moved to Montana where “it just felt like a little bit of a wilderness, like ‘What am I doing out here?’” After wrestling through things and coming out on the other side, she found herself not only surviving but thriving.

“I feel like I got more free,” she said. “I feel like I broke out of some boxes, some old mindsets. I got a breakthrough. So all of these songs were written from that place, from the place of victory. So, there’s a lot of proclamation, declaration in the songs that are more victories and more statements of sorting through the process of what I learned.”

One of the songs that is not as much like the others is the bold and loud anthem, “Mama,” which takes more of a momma bear angle as she proclaims her willingness to fight and defend her children.

“It’s a little bit out of left field,” she said. “I’m a worship leader. It is not a worship song. It’s on a worship album.”

At 42 years old, Walker-Smith said that before her role as a worship leader, her most sacred role is that of a wife and mother. “Mama” came out of her own prayers and frustrations of trying to raise kids “right now in this time where everyone has an opinion and everyone wants to tell you how to do it.”

She also pointed to the constant messages for children, including billboards on the highway to media trying to usurp the parental roles.

“There’s just an attack on kids, on families and I understand I have a responsibility to compare them to the world we’re living in,” she said. “I’m not naive to that. But I want to keep them innocent, any young and naive as long as possible. There’s so much in life where those pieces of innocence are taken away.”

So “Mama,” which she says is a “little humorous, a little tongue in cheek,” is a fight song. After she penned the chorus, she took it to some songwriting friends and said, “This is not a worship song, this is not typical for me, but I feel this. Do you want to help me finish the song?”

Walker-Smith, who is more soft-spoken when not singing, is aware that her soaring vocals and stage presence are sometimes underestimated before a show. Recently, her band started picking at her because in soundcheck, she spoke and sang softer to preserve her voice. But the band forewarned the soundman to not turn her up too loud.

“They’re always like, ‘Don’t let it fool you. Don’t turn her up in our ears because when actually starts singing, you’ll regret it. They make all these jokes.”

Just returning from a tour of South Africa, with three sold-out shows, Walker-Smith is grateful for worshipers who not only enjoyed their favorite songs but embraced the new ones.

“The people in South Africa are serious about worship,” she said. “They don’t wait until that the fourth or fifth song to engage. They really engage right from the get-go, right from the beginning. We’re not just singing songs; they’re looking for Jesus and it’s incredible. Their favorite song of mine is ‘Rooftops.’ Every night when we sang it, every hand was raised. They were singing it so loud, that I heard them through my ear monitors. Later in the night, I said ‘Wan we teach you a new song? We’re gonna’ sing ‘Trample’ from the album. I didn’t know what to expect. Sometimes in foreign countries, the newer stuff takes a little bit longer to kind of catch on. But every night when I sang ‘Trample, they just knew this song and got so excited.”

“Trample” by Kim Walker-Smith, is now available through digital outlets and her website.