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Release Date: July 28th 2023

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Phil Wickham– People Of Heaven (feat. Brandon Lake) (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

1. People Of Heaven (feat. Brandon Lake)

One of my favourite worship leaders and singer/songwriters of late, Phil Wickham has this uncanny ability to write gems, which on the surface may be very underrated, and could slip under the radar; but defying logic quickly rise to become anthems for the church and hits on the radio. Ever since hit chart topping single “Grace” and “After Your Heart”, Phil has just kept churning out hit after hit- accessible for the church yet lyrically sound and complex, and also not threatening nor condemning either. From explosive and vibrant hits such as “At Your Name (Yahweh, Yahweh)”, “Battle Belongs”, “Living Hope”, “Til I Found You”, “Wonderful”, “It’s Always Been You”, “Reason I Sing”, “My All In All”, “The Secret Place”, “I’ll Always Love You” and “This Is Amazing Grace”, to other inspiring melodies such as “Your Love Awakens Me”, “Safe”, “Beautiful”, “Great Things”, “Hymn Of Heaven”, “His Name Is Jesus”, “Glory”, “Heaven Fall Down”, “When My Heart Is Torn Asunder”, “House Of the Lord”, “1000 Names”, “God Of Revival”, and “This Love Will Last Forever” (did I name, along with “Grace” and “After Your Heart”, a potential greatest hits album?); Phil has shown us that quality work and long lasting impressions can and often do result from persistent effort in one’s craft and the desires that God has put in our hearts.

Enter in “People Of Heaven”, a pop/dance/EDM/CCM/worship duet with Brandon Lake. Not present on Phil’s upcoming release I Believe; the spontaneous-like worship melody speaks about being alive and living forever in the kingdom of God and about how Jesus has saved us and we can praise Him forevermore because of everything he’s done. I have high hopes for any Phil Wickham song, but sadly, this melody isn’t up to my lofty standards. That’s not to say it’s not good, this melody is still enjoyable and catchy. But it’s not near-flawless like every other Phil Wickham song. And that’s strangely ok. a toe-tapping song that probably will be present on many Sunday morning setlists in churches everywhere; “People Of Heaven” encourages us to dance and reminds us to lift your eyes and ears to God and worship Him extravagantly simply because of who He is.

As Phil Wickham readies to release his new studio album I Believe later on this month; “People Of Heaven” is a strong, albeit flawed duet with Brandon, from one of my most impacting worship songwriters I’ve ever heard. There’s no reason not to listen to this track, even if it doesn’t resonate with you right away; so what are you waiting for? Maybe listen to it once, twice, three times, maybe more, as you eagerly wait for the new album, which should be awesome in every way! And…you can also let us know how much Phil’s track has impacted your life later on as well, in the comments below! Well done Phil, I can’t wait to hear I Believe and sing out God’s praises!

A few weeks ago Brandon and I had a crazy idea to write and record a song specifically to end the nights and go out with a band on our upcoming tour. We laughed about it at first, but then a song started forming and before we knew it we had recorded “PEOPLE OF HEAVEN. It truly feels like God is all over the story of this one. I am so, so pumped about this song, and I can’t wait to sing it with Brandon every night on the Summer Worship Nights Tour. It’s gonna go off!!

Score: 4.5/5

RIYL: Leeland, Tim Hughes, UNITED, All Sons and Daughters, Crowder