Sound of The New Breed - Kingdom

Let The Church Rise touched up as a dainty waltz, and calls for brothers and sisters to be sensitive in our walk: “We are moving with His compassion.”

Veteran songwriter, Don Moen, is represented with Thank You Lord.  Sophisticated seventies/eighties soul surrounds an understated lead by Jamil Freeman.

An offbeat intro on All to You finds Jeremiah Woods shouting into a megaphone, and then bursts into a guitar barrage and the voices crying out, “You can have it all.”

Taking a no frills, straight-ahead approach, at least in the first half, Revelation Song detours into an impressive background vocal display, dusted with R&B riffs.  This composition describing his majesty: “clothed in rainbows of living color, flashes of lightning…” was first performed by Gateway Worship.

Deft vocal positioning between sensitive leads by Mattie Blackburn and praise encourager Daniel Johnson sparks Everything.  

Friend of God is a musical tour-de-force blending rock attitude, a dash of funk, plus some jazz twists.  Ryan Edgar, an acoustic soul independent artist, adapts well with this upbeat urban Gospel excursion.

Hillsong Worships’, Still, transforms into bits and pieces of old-school soul, and a transparent vocal reading by Leah Smith.

For the closer, All the Earth, recorded and written by The Parachute Band, features an affecting performance by Stacey Joseph.

Israel Houghton’s influence rings throughout especially with tight musicianship and colorful vocal arrangements.  Even with the best intentions, however, praise and worship studio projects lose some flow.  For example, when the adoration atmosphere reaches another level on a few tracks, the song has already faded or ended.  And at times, NB plays it a bit too safe from their normal capabilities.  But Kingdom serves a tremendous need in Gospel music’s expanding territory.

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