Album Review   

Here I Am To Worship - by Tim Hughes
CD Review (Isaac Surh)

Over the years, I've learned to love the "UK sound" over every other kind of contemporary music. There's something about its creativity, its edginess and the way they use a myriad of effects and instruments to create such atmospheres and moods like sweet melancholy or electric elation. And many of the artists from the Worship Together label exemplify the UK sound in their praise. Here I Am To Worship by Tim Hughes, one of Worship Together's latest releases, is a model of this sound par excellence.

Tim Hughes is one of the worship leaders at Soul Survivor based in Watford, England and is considered a protégé of sorts to Matt Redman (who is only a few years older than Hughes himself). One can clearly hear the similarity between their styles. In fact, Hughes covers one of Redman's songs in this CD, The Eyes of My Heart. All the other songs on this album are originals written by Hughes himself.

As Mike Pilavachi, producer of this album and team leader of Soul Survivor, says of Hughes' writing, "[His] songs are intimate, passionate and deeply biblical. They are refreshing and accessible not only to this generation, but I believe, they are set to bless the whole church." One can already see these words becoming reality in the way some of these songs are raging across the world. Already, the title song Here I Am To Worship is one of the Top 10 most requested songs from both Worship Together and CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International). And other upbeat numbers like Jesus, You Alone is capturing the heartbeat of many churches as well.

But more importantly than the sound and style of the music, even more than the songs themselves, is the heart behind those songs. Even without the written testimony of others, one can feel the faithful love of the Lord Jesus Christ exuding from these tracks. Intimacy with the Lord is something impossible to counterfeit and convince other people of. But to add to the testimony of the songs, Matt Redman says of Hughes, "I admire him for his humility and passion for God. Someone recently said that the real test these days isn't in the writing and producing of new and great music; the real test is in the godliness of those who deliver it. Tim is a man most definitely running in the right direction. Behind these fresh new songs is a faithful heart."

I recommend this album to anyone looking for "fresh new songs" with which to worship God. But especially to those who love bands such as U2, Delirious?, Phatfish and generally anyone from the UK, this is a good one to have in your collection.