Crowder’s latest release, “The Exile,” is the middle chapter in a trilogy that started with “Milk & Honey” in 2021 and will conclude with “The Return,” which probably will be released next year.

Think of it as Crowder’s “Empire Strikes Back.”

“It’s absolutely ‘Empire Strikes Back,” he said with a laugh. “That’s what I’ve called it behind the scenes to friends and stuff. And then, of course, (comes) ‘The Return of the Jedi’ with ‘The Return.'”

Despite joking about ‘Star Wars,’ Crowder is singing about a different higher power than “The Force.”

David Crowder is one of the top-selling artists in contemporary Christian music. His songs have been streamed more than 1.8 billion times globally. He’s won four Dove Awards and received five Grammy nominations and had five songs top the Contemporary Christian Music charts.

He’ll mix the new music with past hits when he performs Monday at Packard Music Hall.

The idea for the trilogy inspired by the narrative arc of Scripture — the promise, the exile and the return — was inspired by signing a three-album deal with his record label and starting the first album at the start of the pandemic.

“It was right during our pandemic lockdown, so it was not very hard to talk about,” he said. “Surely, there’s something better coming, because it was pretty rough. So it was really fun to talk about. But the ‘Exile’ deal is more about that sense of displacement, of discomfort … Could we have another year like before? So I think it was just timely culturally, how things have lined up, and we’re still hoping for that ‘Return,’ to get back where we’re supposed to be, which is the whole meta arc of Scripture, you know, how do we get back into communion with our makers?”

Crowder described the songs on “Exile” as grittier and more story-driven.

“They’re very earthy, like you’re trying to describe that displacement, what it feels like to have this sense of longing that things aren’t right,” he said. “A lot of songs kind of fall in that category.”

“And ‘The Return,’ the plan there is, it’s just going to be all church. What do you sing when we get back together? And a lot of those songs were actually coming at the same time this ‘Exile’ album was coming. So I’ve got a slew of songs that I can’t wait to get out there.”

One of the reasons Crowder is not sure when “The Return” will be released is he keeps writing new material that fits the album’s theme.

Contemporary Christian fans didn’t “exile” the middle chapter of the trilogy. The lead single “Grave Robber” topped the Christian adult contemporary and airplay charts.

“It’s just so aggressive and rock ‘n’ roll, I just didn’t see it as being, you know, the first out the door to radio, and then it catching on like it did,” Crowder said. “I guess that’s why the radio department is doing their job, and I’m supposed to stay out of it.”

After it hit No. 1, the label released a second version with a guest appearance by Zach Williams that continued its radio success. TobyMac appears on the single “[ — ] Dash,” and guitar player Buddy Miller appears on the only cover song on the album, “All My Tears,” which was written by Miller’s wife, Julie Miller.

Crowder credited Hank Bentley, his frequent collaborator, with introducing him to the song.

“When you’re looking for inspiration and just digging around, if you have musicians in the room together, we’re going to oftentimes be listening to music,” Crowder said. “He (Bentley) goes, ‘Man, you’ve got to hear this tune by Buddy Miller.’ I was familiar with the tune because it was on an Emmylou (Harris) record as well, but I didn’t know the story behind it.”

“This one (Buddy Miller’s version) was not meant for commercial consumption, it was just him playing acoustic alone in a club, some rock ‘n’ roll club and just somebody filming from a camera up in the balcony. It just had an effect on me. The content fell right in line with what we were trying to write together … I just think it’s interesting to find things that might not have a place in church music and shine a light on something. I think God’s everywhere — at work, in spaces we might not suspect — and when we can point to that, I sure do like it.”

Crowder is known for weaving elements of everything from electronic music to bluegrass into his songs. In a 2018 Billboard interview, Crowder said his parents didn’t restrict the kind of music he listened to when he was young. That changed in his early teens when they started going to a more conservative church when he was in his early teens, and secular music was out.

When asked if he’d ever wondered if his musical adventurousness would be different if those rules had been imposed from the beginning, he answered, “I have not thought about that. You’re making me think about that now … I bet what I’m up to would have been a lot different.”

If you go …

WHO: Crowder.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Monday.

WHERE: Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave NW, Warren.

HOW MUCH: Tickets range from $30 to $100 and are available through Ticketmaster.