Artist: Inland Hills Church
Album: Volume 1
Release Date: October 27, 2013
Label: Risen
In the heart of the Inland Empire of Southern California, Inland Hills has a vision to build the Church and reach their community and world by whatever means. This review holds a special place in my heart as I am good friends with some of the persons that took a big part of this album. Musical Director of Inland Hills Church and good friend, Bryan Murphy, produced and programmed the album.
As always, The Church Collective reviews are meant for worship leaders, by worship leaders to spread the word on great music and congregational friendly songs.
Let’s begin.
Oh God You Reign // There is no better way to start of this album than a proclamation of God reigning over everything. The simple yet, incredibly catchy guitar hook that is heard throughout the intro as well as the rest of the song keeps the energy up, while the dynamics add exceptional flavoring to it. The chorus is simple and speaks truth of our God as the lyrics proclaim, “eternity may pass but You stay the same”. This is not just a great opener of the album, but can serve as a great opener of any worship set. Vocal range is perfect for women and men, and is simple to get the congregation involved the first time.
Arrival // The female vocals polish this song that speaks of our eagerness for revival around us yet we wait in God’s timing and not our own. The energy the song delivers works in great context with the lyrics about our excitement for God to work around us. The chord structure of the intro adds some great tension to the song, and the sonic palette makes great all instruments that you could find in your typical worship band.
Here and Now // One cannot help but get lost in what seems to be an ambient ocean that this song brings to the table. Lyrically, it takes us to a place I believe we as believers can all relate and that in the midst of anything, God will constantly be there. They chorus sings “In the silence You are speaking, in the stillness You are moving, in the chaos You’re still here with us”. This song would be a perfect in a time of reflection in any worship set, and brings the dynamic emotion that congregations can feed off of.
Vast Canyons // Personally this is my favorite songs. The intro combines piano, glockenspiel, beats, and a very catchy synth hook. Chorus speaks of the grace that we receive that we clearly don’t deserve. As the song progresses, the drum groove drives the rhythm to add a great variety of color to the track. The words of the second verse paint a beautiful picture of the Gospel, declaring, “Laying your life to fill the great divide, to call me Your own. You were bruised and broken before you bled and died, to call me Your own.”
Unstoppable // This is a great end to this album. The drums lead into a great piano and synth lead combo that catches the ear’s attention. Talking about how Jesus makes everything possible, and that He is truly unstoppable from doing anything within our lives and world. It does great justice in capping of the creativity that the album encompasses, and leaves the listener as well as a congregation with a simple message that Jesus rules all.
“Our last church album was 2002. This past year we were blessed with the writings of these songs as they were written with the season IHC (Inland Hills Church) is in, in mind. Although “Here and Now” was written a few years back by a friend of ours, we breathed new life into it. The song really captures where our church is at. These particular songs have worked well in our worship services and we simply wanted to record these songs to capture this season of our church. Its our time capsule” -Bryan Murphy
This team is doing great things, and its exciting to see the local church work on a project that will have a great impact not only for their church but the worship community as a whole.
For more info, follow @InlandHills on twitter and instagram as well as visit their website, www.InlandHillsChurch.com
