Provident Label Group

Release Date: August 20th 2021

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Elevation Worship– Might Get Loud (feat. Chris Brown, Brandon Lake, & Tiffany Hudson) (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

1. Might Get Loud (feat. Chris Brown, Brandon Lake, & Tiffany Hudson)

With a great volume of high quality and not so high quality worship bands and solo artists out there; the competition is extremely fierce and there is quite a standard as well- as groups like Hillsong (all facets!), Planetshakers, Vertical Worship, Bethel Music, Jesus Culture and Passion all deliver high quality worship albums year in and year out (for the most part); not to mention solo artists like Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Tim Hughes, Phil Wickham, Kari Jobe, Meredith Andrews, Crowder and Paul Baloche to name a few. Creating probably something of a worship saturation point from all of these many artists churning out the album releases; does the addition of another worship movement/band create an unnecessary movement, or a challenge for new and existing bands to rise up and become more creative and inventive with their songs, musically and lyrically? What exactly makes a band like Elevation Worship so special, particularly since their main lead singers Mack Brock and London Gatch left the group a little while back?

Taken verbatim from my review of Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music’s Old Church Basement from earlier this year, this introduction is probably quite consistent with how I feel about Elevation Worship generally. They’re another worship band in the sea of worship bands. Some would say that they’ve got screwy theology in the sense that they’re probably elevating some non-essentials to be essential in the doctrine of Christianity. Yet their songs are still poignant, moving and inspiring. There is a dichotomy here and something that we all need to reconcile with. Sure, they’re a band that doesn’t get things perfect. But when has perceived screwy theology (or actual screwy theology) ever stopped God and Him working for our good through flawed people? With Old Church Basement being one of the most cohesive albums ever- yep even more so than Graves Into Gardens and Hallelujah Here Below; I’d say that this is no mean feat for the group to release yet another full length album after both Mack Brock and London Gatch have left to pursue solo careers. Yet in light of this development, Old Church Basement stands tall amongst quite a lot of worship albums from this year- both Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music deserve to be congratulated, and to be proud of themselves.

However this isn’t a rehash ‘review’ of something I’ve previously written. For Elevation Worship recently unveiled the latest live single “Might Get Loud”, with Chris Brown and Tiffany Hudson leading vocals, with a guest appearance by long-time Elevation Worship collaborator Brandon Lake. Musically, this worship anthem hits all of the right notes technically; but I reckon this song is extremely sloppy lyrically. There’s repetition galore here, and hardly any lyrics that ‘wow’ me. Relaying that ‘it might get loud’ because we’re praising Jesus, but singers Chris, Tiffany and Brandon never going further than that lyrically… it’s quite frustrating because I know that these guys are better than this. the previous three full length albums is evidence of this. But as it stands, “Might Get Loud”… might actually never ever be listened to again by myself, unless I have a change of heart. Which I probably won’t.

To release a live single during a time where some of us are still in the midst of quarantine seems to be a bit like rubbing it in all of our faces, reminding us all that ‘hey we had this you-beaut worship service that none of you can go to now- and since some of you are on lockdown and we’re not (because we’re vaccinated), let me put it in your face that you couldn’t go to this awesome concert! Sucks for you!’. And… that is exactly how it feels and how it looks in this song. In the live music video, no one is social distancing. And it may be because everyone at the service was vaccinated… but it’s still not a good look when millions are still dying from COVID-19. While the band still on the rise though, and many songs recently expected to propel Elevation Worship to even greater heights, and also with Brandon Lake being an unofficial member of the group; it seems that Elevation Worship are doing just fine without Mack and London. Sure, they will miss these guys because of their experience and the worship leading ability, however we must have faith in the ‘newer’ guys that Jesus would guide their steps in respect to leading people in worship. Though this song does feel like a let-down… perhaps their next album on the whole will be better? With the group’s next album maybe being sometime in 2022 (I’ve love to hear an acoustic album or a Christmas album?), let us hope and pray that the awesome music that was present in the previous three albums continue. But if it’s more like “Might Get Loud”, then listening to forthcoming Elevation Worship albums might be out of the question for me. So… hopefully this track is a tiny hiccup. Can I tentatively say ‘bring on the next album sometime in 2022!’?

Score: 2/5

RIYL: Hillsong Worship, Planetshakers, Meredith Andrews, Kari Jobe, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman