NEXT: Fresh New Worship – April 2016

As I’ve noted before, it can be hard to find solid, new corporate worship songs for your congregation, especially if you don’t subscribe to the “one-size-fits-all” mentality of only pulling from the CCLI Top 100. I collect new songs year round, listen, play along, & analyze to see which ones float to the top – that’s to say, I’ve done some of the work for you. I hope this curated list of new worship songs helps you better serve your congregation.

Being a fan of more upbeat music, I found myself very surprised that April’s list is so mellow, & uniquely feminine. Even if you find nothing here to use at your church, these would make great quiet time songs.

“Walk on Waves” – Austin & Lindsey Adamec (Chart available HERE)
Austin & Lindsey are locals of sorts, but local-bias has no influence on my love for this song. After spending the past few years working on each of their individual music careers, they felt the call back home to serve the local church. Now, as worship pastors/leaders at Christ’s Church, they have co-written a solid batch of new corporate songs. Not only is the production top-notch & relevant, the stand-out track almost seems to grow out of the popularity of “Oceans”, utilizing the same water-theme, but in a more celebratory, victorious manner. I APPROVE! Another potential win here is that the song sounds great as a male/female duet, so it’d be easy to introduce as Special Music.

“How Great” – Covenant Worship (Chart available HERE)
Sometimes a song comes along that isn’t terribly unusual, & yet at the same time it can’t easily be compared to anything else, either. This is one of those. The chorus has elements of prog-rock, yet isn’t the slightest bit hard to sing. In fact, if I were to immediately point out a “win” in this song, is that it just wants to be sung, & the more vocalists the better (a full choir would blow a church to pieces with this one). The simple declaration of the chorus is something that is worthy of being sung, yet verses bring balance with just enough words to bring the weight of the chorus to bear.

“Hope is Rising” – K.C. & Julie Clark (Chart available HERE)
I’ve long been friends with these two, but nothing could’ve prepared me for this song: I almost had to pull off the road on the first listen. I was overwhelmed. I can’t imagine this being the next “How Great is our God” for a great many churches, but it is chock full of passion & beauty, which both have an important place in the worship of our wonderfully creative creator. A balm for the broken, the lyrics & the melody complement each other perfectly – lifting subtly on the word “rising” – to form what I suspect will turn out to be one of my favorite new worship songs of 2016. Download it. Listen to it. Grab the charts & worship along, & consider if you might make a special place for this song in your congregational life, even if only to find a quiet spot in the service & play the lyric video on the big screen for everyone to experience. POWERFUL!  (If interested, other resources – including loops – for this song are available)

“I look to the King” – Meredith Andrews (Chord chart available HERE)
A chill, mid-tempo song with a subtle 70’s vibe, “I look to the King” feels modern & classic all at once. Immediately catching, & easy to sing, I can imagine this working great at most contemporary churches, particularly if they are already prone to regularly use songs from Meredith’s worship team, Vertical Church Band. I’d love to hear a male-led version of this song, & think it would sound great with a classic R&B groove & a large choir belting the chorus!

“Spirit pour Out” – Andy & Rachel Graham (Chord chart available HERE)
As an avid reader of Jonathan Edwards, I am a sucker for any & all revival songs, & this is one of the more powerful sung prayers for revival that I’ve heard in several years. “Spirit pout out & flood this city…Heaven come down & shake the walls…” begins the chorus, but immediately moves towards our empowering to “GO!“, yet it never loses focus on the fact that every part of our response is God-empowered. A lovely song, indeed. In fact, the CD is so good I already have another song from the same record planned for next month’s list. Also, don’t miss Andy’s article on worship leadership posted recently over at TheWorshipCommunity.com!

For a collection of past “NEXT” offerings you can listen HERE, I’ve written on my favorites of 2015 HERE, & be sure to subscribe to this blog & the Spotify playlist to catch regular updates!