It's not the glitzy version of joy we may think about, but For King & Country certainly has it down in their hearts. 

For King & Country, fronted by brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone, has been enjoying incredible success on their latest single, "Joy." However, Joel Smallbone says it wasn't easy to put together.

"That song, in writing, was awfully finicky," Smallbone said the moment he was asked about it. "It's a very different word than we've all perceived it as."

When discussing their upcoming album, Burn The Ships, the two brothers immediately believed joy was the feel they needed with the album. But in their research, they saw that joy wasn't always a fluffy, lighthearted, glitzy thing. Smallbone said it had been compromised.

Instead, Smallbone referred back to James 1:2 (NIV) when James wrote: "consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds." With all the stuff happening in the world, he said joy was even more important.

"The question became what if, in the midst of it . . . we made a decision together to choose (joy) even in the struggle."

The song quickly climbed the charts, gathering seven million streams and landing on Spotify's Top 50 Global list. Smallbone was ecstatic but knows it was a risky song to release.

"It was a bit of a shift from what we'd released in the past," he explained.

The album's second single, "Pioneers," is also a shift, featuring both Luke and Joel's wives on the album. Courtney Smallbone (Luke) and CHVN artist Moriah Peters (Joel) sing on 'Pioneers'. The song, romantic by nature, was originally supposed to be sung by the two brothers. Joel Smallbone laughed when talking about it, saying they realized quickly that it wouldn't work.

It's not that the Smallbone brothers don't love each other. Joel says, like all families, it's not perfect, but he believes they got most of their arguments and issues out as teenagers when they were self-described "arch-enemies." Now they work together like the opposite sides of magnets.

"The thing is about siblings you can't really go anywhere," Smallbone laughed. "You can't really quit the family."

Coming to Canada?

While the duo has been to Canada, Smallbone admits it they haven't come "nearly as much as we'd like." 

He says that should change this coming spring, when For King & Country plan to hit the road, touring throughout the United States and Canada.

"Every time I've come up to Canada, I feel much closer to kin," Smallbone said. "In Australia, we call it the 'no worries mate' attitude."

With the advent of streaming music and these singles being their first releases in this 'new era,' Smallbone has that 'no worries mate' attitude when it comes to the fans knowing their songs.

"You release a song and play it at a show five days later and you have people singing along already," Smallbone said. "It feels like that's the closest to the way music should have always been consumed."

The group has just released another single from the album, "God Only Knows."