“There Is A Cloud” Album Review
By Fin Sheridan
Before we get to the music, I’ve got to be upfront: I really like Elevation Worship and their music. Their previous album, Here As In Heaven, was a favourite for me. I was fiercely evangelistic about it and so I had high hopes for “There is a Cloud”.
In case you don’t know them, Elevation Worship is based in Charlotte, NC as a part of Elevation Church. Led by Pastor Steven Furtick, an extremely gifted preacher and very popular at conferences and on TV, Elevation is fast growing, multi-ethnic church which has enjoyed significant and profound growth over the last 11 years.
The theme of “There is a Cloud” becomes pretty clear, pretty quickly: this is an album about faith. Not just blind faith but authentic faith. Faith that acknowledges mountains and challenges but also that God is bigger.
“Rich in declaration, the focus on the promises of God and his resolution to keep his word will turn your attention to the goodness of God.”
From the opening title track, based on Elijah and his servant in 1 Kings 18, to the incredibly catchy “Do It Again” and the epic “Here in the Presence”, Elevation Worship have provided songs that will catch your attention. More than that, they are songs that you can hum, whisper and sing as you walk through the trials of life. Rich in declaration, the focus on the promises of God and his resolution to keep his word will turn your attention to the goodness of God.
We sing several Elevation songs in my church and they are firm favourites: easy to sing, easy to pick up and then appropriate for singing without a band: a small group, a prayer meeting, etc. Elevation Worship also have done acoustic versions of several of their songs which helps you visualise how they might translate to a smaller, more intimate setting. The value of their “singability” cannot be underestimated: what the church sings is what the church believes. Thankfully, “There is a Cloud” is filled with songs worth singing and worth believing.
