My Own Little World

Over the past several years, I've really grown to love Hillsong United. Their 2013 and 2015 releases, Zion  and Empires , respectively, have made me regain hope for the worship music industry, proving that mainstream worship music can actually be well-written and musically conscious. That being said, I was really looking forward to whatever they did next and was surprised when they announced Wonder  less than a month ago for release this weekend. The title track was so ridiculously infectious that, despite some slightly vague lyrics, I couldn't help but put it on repeat as I waited for the other tracks to be released. I don't know if it was my wild anticipation or my high expectations, but Wonder  actually lacks a little bit of enchantment now that I've listened to it in its entirety a couple of times. United has done a great job over the past couple of years of carefully cultivating a specific sound for each of their releases, with Zion  being extremely energe...

Hillsong UNITED has just released a new album. That sentence alone conjures various reactions, ranging from groaning to scoffing to cheering. Whatever the reaction, a new album from the Aussies is a momentous occassion in worship music. The Hillsong group of bands is arguably the best known and most sung of the major worship artists. Until 2013, most music critics did not want anything to do with any of the Hillsong bands, however, as they typically released what seemed like the same album over and over again. Then came Zion . The release of Zion  changed everything. A formerly complacent band radically challenged the format of the genre which they arguably defined and made for the first time in their career true art. This made it impossible for critics to at least like Zion . It appealed to the hipster crowd musically while still retaining Hillsong's hallmark songwriting. Enter Empires , UNITED's second studio album since transitioning into an indie-ish band. This de...