Capitol Christian Music Group

Release Date: January 8th 2021

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

We the Kingdom– Holy Water Deluxe Edition (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

1. Cages
2. Waking Up
3. Child Of Love
4. Dancing On The Waves
5. Holy Water
6. No Doubt About It
7. God So Loved
8. Peace
9. Don’t Tread On Me
10. SOS
11. If All I Had Was Christ
12. You Are Heaven
13. Take Me On A Ride
14. Holy Water (Church Sessions) [feat. Tasha Cobbs Leonard]
15. Dancing On The Waves (Live At The Wheelhouse)
16. Don’t Tread On Me (Live)
17. God So Love (Acoustic/ Recorded Live At Boiler Room At Neuhoff Site, Nashville, TN)
18. No Doubt About It (feat. Maverick City Music) [Live In Studio]
19. Waking Up (Live In Studio)
20. Child Of Love (feat. Maverick City Music) [Live In Studio]

We’re so excited about this record. Many artists that I’ve talked to have a writing plan when writing their records. But, for us, we didn’t know we wanted to be in a band with each other. We didn’t know that we even wanted to be artists. We just wrote songs because we loved it. We wrote in hot tubs, outside, by the campfire; we wrote anywhere and everywhere we found inspiration. We walked through a really difficult season together, and I think that created a sense of camaraderie between the five of us. It was awesome to write from that place and from any moments that we felt like we need to express.

This album is definitely the soundtrack to our journey and the story of our whole lives. Because this is our first record, it’s everything on one album. We want our story to connect with other people’s stories. We’ve poured our hearts into it, so I hope that it connects with people. We wrote it from a very real and raw place. We’re really excited about it.

As I look around at all of the worship artists (solo and bands) out there; I’m left wondering. Are we in fact at worship saturation point? Well… quite possibly. It’s the point when a worship artist releases a new song, and then we all shrug our shoulders and go about our business- like we don’t really care anymore whether a worship artist releases something new or not. I know I have felt that many times with Planetshakers… but the point is that there is a time, maybe now or maybe into the future, whereby new bands come and they sing praises to Jesus, and we definitely aren’t as excited anymore. For me, worship saturation may be very applicable to some bands (like the aforementioned Planetshakers as well as Jesus Culture and Bethel Music!), however for this next ‘new’ band recently signed to Capitol Christian Music Group, I’m definitely not at saturation point yet. Because We The Kingdom musically is something different. Similar to I Am They, Zach Williams, Passion, Rend Collective and The Crabb Family all rolled into one; the band comprises of songwriter Ed Cash and his family (brother Scott, children Franni and Martin as well as close friend Andrew Bergthold) and is probably the most energetic band since Rend Collective. I know, I know, it’s a bold statement, but one listen to their debut EP Live At The Wheelhouse EP and one or more watches of any of their live videos on Youtube will quickly change your mind. What will also change your mind is the group’s debut album Holy Water which released in August 2020.

Having reviewed this album last year, you can all read about it here. However just this past week, We The Kingdom unveiled the deluxe edition of Holy Water; with a brand new track (“Take Me On A Ride”) as well as 7 of their hit singles, each recorded in a different setting- live, acoustic and more intimate than before. “Holy Water”, “Dancing On The Waves”, “No Doubt About It”, “Child Of Love”, “Waking Up”, “God So Loved” and “Don’t Tread On Me” are all included as alternate versions on this extended project- and I have talked about these songs all extensively in my previous review of the standard edition of Holy Water; but essentially the shining light of the project is “Take Me On A Ride”. With this bonus track being a full-on worship song led by Franni, and directed to Jesus, singing out that Jesus Christ gives us something to live for; We The Kingdom have delivered a well thought out new edition of one of the most underrated albums of 2020. Well deserving of their Dove Awards win of new artist of the year last year; We The Kingdom are an artist that we all need to look out for and be amazed by.

With nothing much more needing to be said about We The Kingdom and their debut album Holy Water; this group is extremely good considering that this is a full length debut project, while both Ed and Franni sing to perfection! Songs like “Holy Water”, “Waking Up”, “No Doubt About It” and “Don’t Tread On Me” are personal album highlights- with “Take Me On A Ride” being a standout amongst the totally brand new and newly-recorded tracks; with every track having no discernible weaknesses in any aspect. So what are you all waiting for? Holy Water deserves 2, 3, 5, 10+ listens. So how about I go away while you guys check out We The Kingdom? Alright, have you finished? What do you reckon?

3 songs to listen to: Child Of Love, No Doubt About It, Take Me On A Ride

Score: 4.5/5

RIYL: Jesus Culture, Passion, I Am They, Rend Collective, Crabb Family, Zach Williams