Jesus Culture – Live from New York
After a brief hiatus from Kim Walker-Smith and Chris Quilala during the Emerging Voices album, they?re back with an all-new live recording featuring former Deliriou5? frontman Martin Smith. This particular release features some incredible worship songs like ?Show Me Your Glory?, ?Holy Spirit?, and ?Set a Fire?.
If you?re looking for some new, interesting worship music to implement into your services this album is definitely a must-listen. Overall, this was a great collective of worship songs and I would definitely recommend it. However, I’m a little puzzled as to why this album was released so quickly after Emerging Voices, which makes me feel like Jesus Culture is going to start adopting a Hillsong-like release schedule, or split the worship teams into multiple groups (like Hillsong Live/United).
Songs to consider for your next worship set:
?Set a Fire? – This is a great song for spontaneous worship times. That mind sound a little weird, but this is the kind of song you don?t really plan in your worship set ? it just kind of happens. But it?s good. Very good.
?Holy Spirit? – A great song for worship nights. This can really set the tone for the rest of your worship set.
?Show Me Your Glory/Majesty? – Just like ?Set a Fire?, this is a great spontaneous worship song that you probably aren?t going to program into your worship set, but it’s great for free-flowing worship nights.
North Point Live – Here + Now
I am a huge fan of North Point?s music, so I was really excited for this album. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. Now, that doesn?t mean it?s a bad album. In fact, it?s pretty good. I just expected more, especially after the stellar ?No One Higher? album from North Point?s InsideOut ministry a few months ago.
Songs like ?One Thing Remains? and ?Revelation Song? are too dull and toned down from their original versions. They feel more like radio cuts than live recordings. In addition, the intro to the album sounded cool…but we can?t really see what was going on (visually) at the time, so it kind of took the fun out of it. But it?s not all bad. Eddie Kirkland?s songs ?Here + Now? and ?Glory to the King? redeemed the album a bit. Overall, this was a decent album.
Songs to consider for your next worship set:
?Here + Now? – This is the kind of song you?d play on an ?I Love My Church?-themed weekend. Very catchy.
?Glory to the King? – Upbeat, catchy, and feels Christmas-like ? but in a good way.
The Brilliance – Advent, Vol. 2
I really love The Brilliance. I saw them at a live show with Gungor a few months ago and was immediately blown away with their musicianship and creativity. Of course, I was excited to see that they?ve made another Christmas EP. For someone who loves Christmas music, I get excited when just about anyone makes a new Christmas EP ? let alone my favorite bands!
The Brilliance brings a calm, soothing feel to this EP. Most songs on here are originals as well, which helps give a bit of a different perspective on Christmas when you?re listening to stuff you aren’t familiar with.
A great song to consider for your Christmas worship set:
?Mary?s Lullaby? – This would be a great Christmas Eve special song ? especially if you made a video or some other creative element for it.
