Hillsong UNITED ‘Empires’

Written by: Abby Baracskai (5/24/15)

I just have to say, I am one of those people that is still confused between Hillsong, Hillsong UNITED, and Hillsong Young and Free; but what I do know, is that this album that I was given to listen to, is another great one in the books. I have always been a bit fascinated about how such a large group of people are able to successfully make so much music that people absolutely love. One thing about this band is that they tend to pick such unique little sounds and layer them with other instruments to produce extraordinary melodies. They are able to make music that resonates with the soul and pleases the ears. The album contains a mix of female and male vocals, which I believe helps create diversity throughout the tracks and keeps a balance between sounds. Not only that, but their messages are straight praising and worshipping God and recognizing all the wonderful things He does for us.

One of the things that I really have to give Hillsong UNITED props for is being able to have lovely worship songs with deep meaning and not having the song full of cliché filler words like “amen” “hallelujah” and things like that. I think their points come across much more effectively since their lyrics are not cluttered with fillers that do not add much to the overall meaning of the song. One of my favorite tracks on the album is “Even When it Hurts (Praise Song)”. The message rings clear that although you may personally be going through some more difficult times, you are still able to praise God for the life he has given you. It shows how someone with strong faith is able to turn to God and give Him praise through the storm instead of turning away from God and asking “why me?” It is also one of the more upbeat songs on the album with an electronic vibe.

Another one of my favorites on the album is “Street Called Mercy”. I absolutely love the meaning of this song because it paints a picture of a huge celebration in my head. It is about accepting and knowing your place in God’s kingdom and recognizing that you are a child of the one true king. It is that moment in time when the light bulb goes off and it all begins to sink in of what faith really means. The song is about when you finally start living your life for Jesus and believe that “every breath [you] take is a breath to say [you] are [His] now forever.” All I can seem to imagine is the angels in Heaven rejoicing over another saved soul. The song also features a neat guitar intro and some chilling harmonies.

The final song I would like to highlight is “Rule”. It is another one of the more upbeat songs with the techno vibe. This one in particular makes you feel like dancing. It also has a great message about wanting and thirsting to hear God’s voice in your life. It is about recognizing that “we owe it all to Jesus” and beginning to seek God’s guidance before making any choices on our own. The only criticism I have about the album is that I question if having such long tracks actually takes away from the experience of listening to the album instead of enhancing it. I wonder if it hurts the album by dragging out points longer than need be. I know some people like longer instrumentals and when the artist repeats their message a few times. I suppose, personally, I like my songs straight to the point. Not every song is extremely long, but there are quite a few tracks over four minutes. So if you are one of those people who enjoy longer songs, there are plenty of them on this album. It is possible that the band was just so full of passion that they felt they needed to make their songs longer to incorporate it all.

Overall, the album was interesting to listen to musically because of all the minute details compiled together to create unique sounds, and lyric wise because of the important messages they illustrate. Although some songs are a bit more difficult to decipher the exact words being sung, the lyrics as a whole are clearly pointing to God and all of His miraculous mercies. If you are a fan of Hillsong UNITED, this new album will not leave you disappointed.