Luke Hellebronth “Stand Up” Album Review

The veil is finally torn asunder.  No longer is worship music the church's best kept secrets where only church goers get to enjoy.  Blasting out of the speakers of cinemas across the world will be Luke Hellebroth's "Spirit Break Out."  This Hellebronth, Tim Hughes, Ben Bryant and Myles Dhillon worship anthem will be one of the feature songs on the soundtrack of the forthcoming blockbuster movie to be "Noah." Hellebronth is not stranger in setting new trends and eradicating domestic scaffolds.  Hailing from London, England, where Hellebronth serves as co-leader of Worship Central, many of his songs have had made it across the Pond.  "Stand Up," which is essentially Hellebronth's debut album for Integrity Music, finds him working with fellow Worship Central leader Ben Cantelon with the album executively produced by Tim Hughes and C. Ryan Dunham.  The album contains 9 songs with live recordings of 2 of Worship Central's favorites with the rest finding Hellebronth sharing the pen with notables such as Aaron Keyes, Tim Hughes, Nick Herbert and the aforementioned Cantelon.

"Stand Up" bears all the imprints of what a good opening worship song ought to be.  The atmospheric ambiance creates in us an urgency to meet with God that is heightened by the song's strident guitar.  By the time Hellebronth gets to the chorus we are already in an hypnotic gaze dwelling richly in God's presence as we sing with him: "Stand up, everybody stand up/Come on lift your eyes up, see the King/Our God, such a mighty fortress/You are with us, for us, Jesus our King." "Love Like This" is where Matt Redman's piano chops and Hillsong's "woo-oah" converge into a modern Brit pop worship ballad that celebrates God's great love for us.  Lyrically, "Awesome is He" is a Biblically-rich treasured trove that not only unpacks the infallible nature of God's word but the song trumps in terms of its plethora of images used to illustrate the power of God's word.  In a genre that is so often devoid of poetical depth and littered with overwrought clichés, "Awesome is He" is a breadth of fresh air.

In the context of corporate worship, not everyone may come with an exuberant delight to praise Jesus.  Often worship leaders forget that there are some in the congregation who have had to drag their heavy plaintive hearts to church.  Yet, without any pastoral sensitivity we just bulldoze over such brokenness with screeching guitars and incessant propulsive songs. "Miracle of Grace," actually gives expression for the broken to approach our King with grace and mercy.  Long time fans of Worship Central would have recognized "Ready for You;" Hellebronth's cover doesn't deviate much from the original template that makes one wonder if it would be better serve on an already short album of only 9 songs to have another new composition.  The same can be said about the two live Worship Central re-cuts stuck to the end of the record "Our Generation" and "Now is the Time for Us."

The album's highlight is definitely "Spirit Break Out."  Like a little movie that slowly reels, "Spirit Break Out" starts off with a distorted guitar intro before layer upon layer of sound is hewed one upon each other until you get an explosive outcry for God to break out in the spirit of revival. Though the song runs for over 7 minutes, the song just brims with some much anointing that you are just lost in the awe of the moment.  In fact the song is so powerful that Jesus Culture had also recorded their own version of it.  And given the right promotion and the divine push of God's Spirit, this song is destined to bring a resurgence of worship back into our society.  "Stand Up," by God's providence, will then be a record that lives up to its titular as more and more Jesus followers stand up to proclaim that our King reigns.  

 

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