Independent

Release Date: February 14th 2025

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Julie Elias– Love Remains (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

1. This Is Our God
2. Praise
3. Heartsong (Acoustic)
4. Love Remains
5. King Of Kings
6. The Lion And the Lamb / This Is Amazing Grace
7. O Praise The Name
8. Happy Day
9. I Speak Jesus
10. Painted Skies
11. His Eye Is On The Sparrow / How Great Thou Art (Live)

Life is ALL about perspective. I have been talking a lot about my challenges and struggles but all it takes is one conversation with someone about their own struggle with say, cancer or losing a child, and it puts it all in perspective! I go from feeling a bit down to so incredibly grateful. It is so easy for us to think about all the people who have it better than us, we forget that there are a lot more people who have it way worse. It is sometimes almost embarrassing if I catch myself complaining about something so trivial. There are two quotes about music that I love: “Where words fail, music speaks.”, by Hans Christian Andersen, and “Music expresses that which cannot be said, and on which is impossible to be silent.”, by Victor Hugo. All cultures have music. It is the most universal of all languages. Music enhances words to something so much bigger, something that you feel throughout your whole body. Many times, you can just hear a melody and you know right away if it is happy, confused, or sad and then the words just complement it- to combine this with the influence and spirit of God makes for an immensely powerful medium by which to share Him with the world. I feel closer to God through music than any other time; it is not only a powerful connection for me but also for millions of other people, many of whom may not even realize it yet. I would love to be used to help them realize that. Julie Elias is perhaps one of my favourite worship/CCM artists recently, alongside others like Erik Nieder, Phil Wickham, Chris Tomlin, Katy Nichole, Matt Redman, Crowder, Meredith Andrews, Paul Baloche, Martin Smith, Riley Clemmons, Anne Wilson, Kari Jobe and Natalie Grant to name a few. Releasing quite a few albums up until now (A Wild Rose in 2012, Love Rain Down in 2014, Unbroken in 2015, A Girl Like Me in 2017, The Dreamer in 2023…and let’s not forget her Christmas album in 2013!), Julie’s new album (the worship project called Love Remains!) is very much unique as it is powerful and emotive, making her music style certainly different and set-apart amongst all the sea of worship and CCM flooding the radio airwaves nowadays.

Julie has had quite a career up to this point, studying musical theatre when she was younger and ending up in Hollywood, where she guested in various TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, CSI: New York, Bones, Flash Forward, Community and more. Now focusing on Christian music, Julie’s vocals and lyrical ingenuity reminds me that of artists like Jaci Velasquez, Rebecca St. James and Avalon- yet it is the similarities to music from the 90s, while also having a unique personality about herself which she injects into her music, that I reckon will continue to propel Julie to newer and higher heights in the upcoming months and even years ahead! As she continues to hone in her skills to create great pop-CCM with a distinct 1990s musical flair, Love Remains, though predominately covers, continues to wow me and remind myself that I can still be impacted by such an album of melodies I’ve mostly heard before in some shape or form, and thoroughly enjoy it, with the album fast becoming one of my favourites of the 2024/2025 period- on par with Phil Wickham’s I Believe from way back in 2023!

Who releases an album on a holiday? This girl right here….

Happy Valentine’s Day! A day to celebrate love and regardless of your “status” today, I want you to know you are loved. You matter. You are purposed. You are intentional. You are beautiful.

I am thrilled to share this worship album with you today and I hope you feel loved today. I’ll share some stories and insights on these songs later, but for now I would just love for you to listen, enjoy, and remind yourself how much God loves you

Love Remains, at 11 tracks and 55 minutes long, is a thoroughly enjoyable and a hopeful, inspiring, majestic, profound, vibrant, honest, moving, and vulnerable worship experience- from top to bottom. “This Is Our God”, “This Is Amazing Grace” (Phil Wickham), “Praise” (Elevation Worship), “King Of Kings”, “O Praise The Name” (Hillsong Worship), “The Lion And the Lamb” (Leeland), “Happy Day” (Tim Hughes), “I Speak Jesus” (Charity Gayle) and “His Eye Is On The Sparrow / How Great Thou Art” (hymns/traditional), are all presented here as stellar and exquisite renditions; and as Julie worships Jesus and sings about His goodness and His faithfulness, we are immersed in the truth that won’t ever change- that God loves us immensely and that He is worthy of our worship and our devotion to Him. “Heartsong” (the acoustic version) is beautifully sung here (the original is on the 2023 project The Dreamer, which we will still voice our brief thoughts very soon!); while brand new songs “Painted Skies” and the title track invite us into communion with God, reminding us that Julie as a singer/songwriter and as a worship leader, is right here to stay and is just getting started!

Life is such a journey, of mountains and valleys, storms and sunshine but it is beautiful and unique to each and every one of us. We all have a story unlike anyone else’s- you don’t have to be anyone other than who God made you to be. I have found the greatest impact I have had on people is when I am being myself, when I am transparent, honest, and a little bit goofy. The biggest thing I have held on to is to be myself – I can always (and should!) strive to be a “better” me but that is to honor God’s creation of me, not to impress other people. I’m already loved and cherished, and anything more I do is just icing on the cake! With seven albums under her belt, Julie Elias is nevertheless still relatively new compared to seasoned veterans like Francesca Battistelli, Kerrie Roberts, and Natalie Grant. Nevertheless, the album itself is great production-wise. With powerful drums and a vocal that I reckon is one of the most underrated in the Christian indie music industry; Julie’s new album is one to treasure if you are a fan of indie worship music, CCM, pop, or a combination of the three. With an overarching atmosphere that harkens back to the 1990s, Julie’s unique representation of the songs shows us that there can be a place where CCM, worship and 1990s style music are all meshed together, and it works. From the title track to “Painted Skies”, “Heartsong”, and especially the covers “Praise”, “I Speak Jesus” and “O Praise The Name”; Julie’s efforts ought to be commended and rewarded. Well done Julie, for presenting one of my favourite albums released thus far in 2025; and a must for anyone who loves 1990s music, worship music, indie music, or all three.

3 songs to listen to: Love Remains, O Praise The Name, Painted Skies

Score: 5/5

RIYL: Kerrie Roberts, Natalie Grant, Avalon, Francesca Battistelli, Rebecca St. James