Review: New Life Church - You Hold It AllA low pad hums... an electric guitar reverberates a layer of rhythm.. then a voice calls out
Who has stretched out the skies like a canvas
Who has scooped up the oceans with His hands
Who has measured the hills from the mountains You have
So begins the newest album from New Life Church and its arsenal of great songwriters, Jon Egan, Jared Anderson and Glenn Packiam. This time they are joined by the notable lyricist Mia Fieldes on several songs, with additional credits to several others scattered across the 12 track, 13 song collection of this project. And this is the immediately what is most striking about this new project- the lyrical strength of the songs. Music, while still remaining clearly artful, takes backseat to some careful thought taken to the art of lyric craft.
The project rolls on to track 2, where another example of painting with words is brushed on a song canvas of “It Was For Freedom” :
It's the heartbeat of God it's the rhythm and reason for love
The power of the cross is the beginning for all who are lost
One of the most compelling songs of this album comes with track 4 “Our Messiah Reigns”, where the chorus culminates a collage of Revelation 5 motif with unique reflection on the life and Messiahship of Jesus. This song melds into track 5 where a recitation of Isaiah 61 plants our work on earth as a continuation of Jesus call to preach the good news. Very nice thematic work here.
Track 6 “Great I Am” is one of those anthemic choruses that could last for hours, and it is wonderfully engaged in this live album.
My favorite song on the album is Be Thou Exalted, a beautiful co-write with Egan and Fieldes. The song is perfect with lyrics attuned to a brilliant balance of “old and new” as word choice and themes that bring together a ancient/modern sense of God’s transcendent character. The rendering of its live recording left a lot of weight on the congregational room sound, however, and the lead/melody becomes unfortunately washed out a few times. But the recording does show us the power of the song in a congregational setting, and its strength as a song makes it a likely candidate for re-tracking on other studio projects and other albums.
After Be Thou Exalted, track 10 wins as the “use this in church” favorite from this album. A newly written song by Jon Egan, “God Be Praised”, medley’s perfectly into the classic praise song from Lenny Smith, “Our God Reigns”. If you are going to try one song for Sunday morning- this is your ticket. I’d also encourage you to do the medley as they’ve set it up here. Even if you have to lower the key for your congregation, try this out. This medley is a perfect example of why I love it when actual worship leaders produce worship albums.. the essence of a real church community engaging in what actually works in a live setting.
The title track “You Hold It All” rounds out my selections of top songs from this album. This album is clearly a live project, owing much of its appeal to the experience of the recording and the corporate joy of bringing such praise and worship in a gathered setting. While the musicality of the project feels like was subdued (relative to past releases from the same group), the project as a whole benefits from the focus on maturity in lyrical development.
If you are looking for some new gems for church worship, I encourage you to review the songs I have noted here. There are plenty of other tracks on the project that might resonate with you as well, so don’t take my word for it-- listen through the entire project. Well worth getting the entire mp3 album online, in my opinion.
The entire album is also already included in the WorshipTeam.com worship planning system.
blessings
Kim Gentes