FOX411 spoke with singer-songwriter Danny Gokey about his just new album 'Rise' and how he hopes the overall message he's sending out inspires people to move forward and not give up after hitting hard times. He told us, "If my music can say anything is, I want it to unite us."

FOX411: Tell us about the inspiration behind "Rise" and the message you wanted to send out?
Danny Gokey: People who watch me, who know my music, and have gotten acquainted with me through either "American Idol" or through my most recent releases, they know that I went through some really difficult things and recently even up to three years ago. You know, as an artist we sometimes use part of the brain that really gives us extreme highs but extreme lows and I felt myself in a depression and, you know, sometimes when we get to those dark times you can make a bad decision in a moment of pain that might not be good. But I learned to process that pain properly and learned to use it not to my detriment but use it to bring good out of it and that’s where the title track ‘”Rise” came from.

FOX411: Can you share a little bit what you went through with fans who are not familiar with your story?
Gokey: Well, the perspective now it’s like man, thank God I didn’t make a bad, like I’m telling you in those moments of darkness your mind tends to go to… I hate to say this, but you have to be blunt, I could just end it all and just forget about this life but man I would have missed so many great chapters that were ahead… even though I lost my first wife and I made it through that one, there’s still, we still live in this world and we’re just going to hit hard times but it’s learning just to keep moving forward and not giving up. That’s the whole point of my music.

For more of FOX411's interview with Gokey, watch the video above.