Music Review: These Same Skies by Hillsong Worship
Music Review: These Same Skies by Hillsong Worship
15 March 2022
The latest live album from Hillsong Worship was recorded in California, yet it still contains familiar voices and songwriters who started at Hillsong Church in Sydney.
After three decades, Hillsong Worship has tried something different with their latest original album These Same Skies – they took it offshore.
Recorded live at Hillsong Church, Orange County, in California, it means the sound and overall feeling of the record is different to its predecessors. The quality is there, but the sense of zest takes a while to grow on you. That being said, it does come.
In a COVID-19 world, and one where Hillsong has multiple campuses spanning continents, recording the album in Orange County (south of Los Angeles) makes perfect sense.
Head of Worship Brooke Ligertwood calls that campus home and joined by Rueben Morgan and other well-known band members Aodhan King and Benjamin Hastings, there are enough familiar faces and melodies to thread the band’s discography together. We see this is the opening track, ‘That’s The Power’, and the sing-ability and security of any song led by Reuben Morgan is enough to take me back to the Hillsong tunes I loved as a kid.
Perhaps the point of difference in These Same Skies is the congregation it was penned for – the North American church, specifically one near Los Angeles, is unique and seems to gravitate towards a more concert-like atmosphere. The songs are theologically sound (albeit not overtly missional) but are clearly poignant to a young, vibrant audience whose experience of the past two years has looked different to many Australians.
Songs like ‘Resurrender’ will undoubtedly still empower churches in corporate worship, and the lead vocals of upcoming leader Mi-kaisha Rose are an exciting addition to the Hillsong team. But if you’ve been engaging with Hillsong for a lifetime like many Aussies, don’t be surprised if These Same Skies doesn’t quite hit the nostalgic yet empowering mark of its predecessors.
These Same Skies is available online and at Koorong.
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