Independent
Release Date: October 12th 2018
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Anthem Lights– Worship (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- What A Beautiful Name / Tremble
- Who You Say I Am
- Reckless Love / How He Loves
- Do It Again
- King Of My Heart / Holy Spirit
- Yes I Will
- So Will I (100 Billion X) / Indescribable
- Yes & Amen
- Here I Am To Worship
- 10 000 Reasons
- Good Good Father
If you’ve read any of my many Anthem Lights reviews on the site over the past few years, then you know who Spencer Kane, Joey Stamper, Chad Graham and Caleb Grimm are. And you all would know what they’re all about in terms of each of the four members being on fire for Jesus. But if you somehow are not in the loop as to who these young men of God are, then you can read my reviews of Anthem Lights’ projects right here, and now you can be caught up and in the know. Now that you know though, let me tell you about the quartet’s latest project Worship– an 11 track covers album which released this past week. Now, I know what you’re thinking, that the group has now gone and created an unnecessary release, given that there’s not a single original melody here. However, I tend to disagree- and in my opinion most of these renditions are well recorded and produced, reminding us all that it doesn’t matter who’s singing a certain worship song, as long as Jesus’ power and spirit is placed upon the track.
One look through the tracklist and we see quite a number of well known recent mega-worship hits. “So Will I (100 Billion X)” [Hillsong UNITED] is one of today’s biggest worship hits and one of my favourite Hillsong UNITED worship songs ever- and is mashed up with “Indescribable [Chris Tomlin]. While the end result isn’t that seamless, there’s no denying the passion from these four vocalists, as we remember that because all creation praises God (like the sun, moon, stars, wind, waves, trees, animals etc), we can and should also. While “What Are Beautiful Name” (Hillsong Worship) and “Reckless Love” (Cory Asbury) are two other gigantic singles from this year, and these are mashed up with “Tremble (Mosiac MSC) and “How He Loves” (David Crowder*Band) respectively, each creating an effortless and thoroughly engaging worship medley. “Do It Again” (Elevation Worship), “Yes I Will” (Vertical Worship), “Yes And Amen” (Chris McClarney), and “Who You Say I Am” (Hillsong Worship) are other new-ish worship melodies covered here, with all of them being impacting and well recorded and sung; while “10 000 Reasons” (Matt Redman) and “Good Good Father” (Chris Tomlin) were previously released on Hymns II and Hymns respectively (yet both of these versions fit well on Worship!) while the final medley is “King Of My Heart” (Bethel Music) with “Holy Spirit” (Jesus Culture)- another misstep in an otherwise enthralling and captivating worship experience that I would gladly undertake many more times in the future.
With the album instrumentation just the piano keys (as well as a full band in a few of the tracks), it is in these vibrant and eclectic renditions where we can hear each of the four members showcase their brilliant vocal abilities, either sung as a solo part or together. The result is nothing short of extraordinary and remarkable as we hear one of the greatest vocal groups currently. With Anthem Lights previously reiterating that they will always keep creating worship music in tandem with pop music and other types of genres; sky’s the limit for these guys. So while we wait to see what they’ve got next in store, let us worship God with these heartfelt, poignant and honest worship songs. And see how Joey, Spencer, Caleb and Chad minister to our souls!
3 songs to listen to: Do It Again, Yes I Will, Yes & Amen
Score: 4/5
RIYL: Tauren Wells, Selena Gomez, Cimorelli, Taylor Swift, One Direction, TobyMac, Britt Nicole