Israel & New Breed Go To A Deeper Level With Release On Sept. 4th

Mobile, Ala. -- Grammy, Dove and Stellar Award-winning Israel & New Breed will release their sixth Integrity Music release, A Deeper Level, on September 4, 2007. And, with artists like Jonny Lang, T-Bone, Darlene Zschech and Chris Tomlin lining up to be make special guest appearances on A Deeper Level, it looks like Israel & New Breed is set to deliver another ambitious, eclectic tour de force of an album. 

A Deeper Level was recorded during three nights of worship at the annual A Deeper Level Conference at Grace Church in Humble, Texas, and was produced by the award-winning team of Israel Houghton and Aaron Lindsey.   The CD is packed with energetic praise and worship songs but also shows a contemplative and prayerful side to Israel & New Breed reflecting the group’s desire that A Deeper Level moves listeners to deeper worship that leads to acts of compassion and justice.  

“Israel & New Breed has been fortunate to be blessed with many amazing opportunities in the past couple of years, traveling the world and meeting people of all different cultures and circumstances.  Those experiences have changed us.  They have given us, not only new perspectives on our own faith, but a desire for boldness in our music and perhaps a bigger platform to challenge people of God to put their faith into action.  I hope that A Deeper Level projects this vision,” said Houghton.

“Israel and New Breed have consistently pushed the envelope spiritually and musically.  It's so refreshing to see an artist of Israel's caliber being willing to risk it all and press into a deeper level of worship.  This is not just a collection of great songs, created to tickle the listener's ears.  This project was birthed out of Israel's personal quest over the past year to experience a fresh, new move of God in his life.  The music reflects this journey and I believe it is his best project yet,” said Don Moen, president of Integrity Music Group. 

A special part of A Deeper Level is the A-list Christian and gospel artists who make guest appearances on the CD.  The 2006-7 Dove Award Artist of the Year Chris Tomlin co-wrote and provides a vocal on “I Know Who I Am.”  Grammy Award-winning Jonny Lang displays his world-renown guitar skills and smooth vocals on the acoustic “You Are Not Forgotten” while West Coast rap veteran T-Bone guests on “With Long Life.”   International Worship Leader Darlene Zschech provides a emotional introduction for “Deeper” and also sings on that song.

The entire track listing for A Deeper Level is:

1. So Come (Tom Davis and Kevin Prosch)
2. Prayers Of The Righteous (Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey and Adrian Lindsey)
3. Say So (Michael Gungor and Israel Houghton)
4. With Long Life (Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey with additional lyric by Rene F. Sotomayor and additional music by Juan Najera)
5. Identity (Israel Houghton and Neville Diedericks)
6. I Know Who I Am (Israel Houghton and Chris Tomlin)
7. I Will Search For You (Israel Houghton and Meleasa Houghton)
8. Surely Surely (Jerry Harris Jr., Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey and Kevin Singleton)
9. If Not For Your Grace (Israel Houghton and Aaron Lindsey)
10. Deeper (Israel Houghton and Aaron Lindsey)
11. We Have Overcome (Israel Houghton and Meleasa Houghton)
12. You Are Not Forgotten (Israel Houghton and Meleasa Houghton)

With two singles being delivered to radio in July, the opportunity to hear music from A Deeper Level won’t have to wait until the September 4th CD release date.  “If Not For Your Grace” impacts gospel radio while “I Will Search” will be serviced to CHR and Inspirational radio formats.

In addition to radio, Integrity plans far-reaching marketing support for A Deeper Level, making sure that visibility remains high for Israel & New Breed for the next several months on television, radio, online and in print. 

The members of Israel and New Breed are gifted individuals with hearts of worship and it is a privilege to be partners with them. We believe in this group, support their vision and we have embraced an ‘all hands on deck’ marketing approach to spread the word about their incredible new project,” said Demetrius Summerville, Marketing Coordinator.

Israel & New Breed will also tour the new record extensively with a 30-plus city fall “A Deeper Level Tour,” scheduled to kick off on the CD street-date.  Before that, the group will be a part of the annual Hillsong Conference in Sydney, Australia in July and will visit Africa in June.  Of course, Israel Houghton will continue serving his role as worship leader for Lakewood Church in Houston, under the pastoral leadership of Joel Osteen.

Israel & New Breed is the 2007 Grammy Award Winner for Traditional Gospel Album of the Year for Alive in South Africa, and have also been honored with multiple Dove, Stellar and Soul Train Awards.  The group has two RIAA gold-certifications for Alive In South Africa and Live From Another Level.  Israel and New Breed have been featured on FOX, CBS, ABC, BET, TBN and CBN with appearances at major events and festivals including Franklin Graham crusades, Promise Keepers, CreationFest, Kingdom Bound and Hillsong Conference. Israel and New Breed tours extensively both domestically and internationally including a recent trip to Ghana. Israel and New Breed was founded by Israel Houghton, his wife Meleasa and their friend and long-time songwriting/production partner Aaron Lindsay.  Houghton is a worship leader for Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston and the other members of New Breed serve at their respective churches.

Israel & New Breed are distributed to Christian retail by Provident-Integrity Distribution and to the general market by Columbia Records/Sony-BMG Distribution.