DJ Kelechi : Christian DJ » Israel Houghton

Israel & New Breed – A Deeper Level

DJ Kelechi — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:01:57 +0000

Artist – Title: Israel & New Breed – A Deeper Level

Label: Integrity/Provident

Genre: Gospel/Pop

Verdict

There are very few worship outfits with music can transcend cultural barriers and appeal to both the white and black sectors of the church.

With A Deeper Level, Israel does this effortlessly. There is no doubt that this album will top the charts worldwide and further reinforce his position as one of the leading international praise and worship leaders of our time.

Throughout this live recording you will hear songs which have been crafted with Israel’s trademark combination of simple catchy hooks and excellent instrumentation.

This formula is applied excellently to tracts like the rock enthused ‘We Have Overcome’, the anthemic ‘I Know Who I Am’ and the dancehall/reggaeton flavoured ‘With Long Life’. But it will be worship songs like ‘I Will Search’ and ‘Deeper’ which will no doubt find their way into the praise and worship sessions of many a church service worldwide.

Dancefloor Fillers

With Long Life: The verdict is still out in T-bones rap but this is still a huge party track.

Praise & Worship Gems

Deeper: Perfect balance of acoustic guitar, electric guitar and piano combine and you will find yourself crying out ‘God, give us your heart!’

I will search: A worship song of epic proportions. Beautifully written. This one had me and my wife in worship mode for ages on a long drive home recently. It’s one that is designed to usher you into God’s presence.

Other Standout Tracks:

I Know Who I Am: Sing along rock anthem feat Chris Tomlin

Identity: African influenced toe taper/hand clapper

Various – The New Sound of Gospel

DJ Kelechi — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 21:55:28 +0000

SonyBMG/Integrity
The Gospel music market is not short of compilations, ‘Gotta Have Gospel’ and ‘WOW Gospel’ are both very well established, so this offering needed to come with something different to be worthy of any type of success.
The first question I asked myself was, ‘Does this collection really live up to its name?’ Well… not with the inclusion of Shackles, Mary Mary’s hit of 5 years ago! What’s new about that! But to be fair, I have to say that SONY BMG and Integrity put in a decent effort and I commend their attempt at highlighting the more progressive side of the genre.
Kiki Sheard’s ‘You Don’t Know’, Trin-I-Tee 5:7’s ‘Holla’ and Martha Munizzi’s ‘Glorious’ have remained firm favourites over the past couple of years. There are some of the biggest current hits included like Mary Mary’s ‘Believer’, Israel’s ‘Not Forgotten’ and not to mention the huge Kirk Franklin dance-floor filler, ‘Looking For You’.
The most exciting thing about this compilation is the excellent selection of new previously unreleased material from the US and the UK. (Yes, I did say the UK!). There is a new piano led ‘Darkchild produced dance track from Virtue. The UK offers up an intimate acoustic neo-soul ballad Four Kornerz, lyrically brilliant slow jam from Nu Life, and an infectious new groover from Raymond and Co.
There’s even more UK bashment style pressure from Shadrach, but my favourite by far has to be Ekklesia’s foot stomping R’n’B anthem ‘Blessed’.
The overall buzz about this album is one of optimism, and we as consumers in the UK should support it and prove that we have an emerging and vibrant scene here.