Fresh New Worship Songs – August 2015

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. Well, 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. Here are my most recent picks.

“Praise our God” – Matt McCoy (Chart available HERE)
I reviewed Matt’s latest right HERE, but on the short, Matt is a worship leader at Harvest Bible Chapel, a regularly appearing musician in the Vertical Church Band, & the Founder/CEO of the Loop Community. I’ve already added “Praise our God” to Saint Lewis’s live set-list, & hope to use it corporately soon as well. It’s a strong, mid-uptempo Call-to-Worship anthem, with a strong melody, & chorus that is both classic/historic/Biblical (“To Him to sits on Heaven’s throne…“), & quite original, feeling like a “breakdown” (if it were driven my distorted guitar instead of synths, a mosh-pit would break out) – it’s really quite powerful on it’s musical merits alone. Necessary listening for all of you worship pastor audiophiles.

“Good Good Father” – 10,000 Fathers ver. (Chart available HERE)
(If you’d like to check out the original version by Housefires, you can find it HERE) Have you ever loved a song, then heard a new version that made you love it EVEN MORE? I mean the song tapped right into that simple love for our Heavenly “Daddy”, but then the new arrangement added that cool walk-down, & even more depth & beauty. This is this generations’ “How He Loves” – the song will be around for a long time. You might as well just add it to your set list now. Trust me.

“Greater is He” – Jonathan Lee (Chart available HERE)
Though you might not immediately recognize his name, Jonathan is a deeply anointed worship leader & a gifted songwriter whose songs have been recorded by the likes of the Newsboys, For King & Country, Mikeschair, and Phillips, Craig, & Dean. And of all of those songs, the one I return to again & again as a worship leader is “Greater is He”. Bold in proclamation, & immediately singable by congregations, it’s a personal favorite at my current church.

“Praise the King” – Corey Voss (Chart available HERE)
Having only met Corey momentarily one thing is immediately noticeable: the young man exudes Spirit-filled joy. That same joy bubbled over from the hymn-like “Praise the King.” It’s simple melody makes the song immediately multi-generational, perfect for youth, contemporary, blended, or traditional services alike. In fact, I can’t wait to hear someone attempt this with a huge gospel choir – it’s begging for it.

“Everything and Nothing Less” – Chris McClarney  (Chart available HERE)
Most know Chris for his contribution to “Your Love Never Fails”, made famous by both Jesus Culture & the Newsboys, but his contributions to the modern worship catalogue run much deeper than that. Recorded with Jesus Culture in California, his latest CD is heart-felt & beautiful. The title track is my personal favorite. A deep, passionate cry of surrender, “Everything and Nothing Less” waves a White Flag before the Lord, offering His quite literally everything. A great corporate song, but also a wonderful “special” during offertory in more traditional churches.

“You complete all You Begin” – Stephen Miller (Chart available HERE)
I recently reviewed Stephen’s latest HERE, but the more I listen, the more songs that stand out as possible corporate numbers. That said– it’s particularly hard writing hymns. In fact, it’s so hard that – technically – much of what we consider “hymnody” isn’t, because a true “hymn” (as the term has historically been used, & is still used by professional musicologists) doesn’t bank on a catchy chorus to hold a song together! Originally hymns stood on the beauty of their prose to express, & unpack the beauty of truth – a poem, built verse-after-verse. This is the song I’ve always wanted to write.

I’ll have another collection of new songs ready for you next month – until then, I hope these bless you & your congregation!

So, fill me in: what new worship songs have you introduced of late?

(This playlist has since been archived, but you can still subscribe to the “Powerful New Worship Songs” playlist, & also be encouraged to subscribed to the “Past New Worship Songs” list, which compiles all of my archived lists)