The Sound of the Now and the Not Yet
Kingsway are delighted to announce the release of a debut album from a new artist - but one with a rich
heritage than spans almost an entire century. Elim Sound are the product of the collective skill and passion of four
members of a new generation currently emerging within the UK’s Elim Pentecostal Churches. Like the generations that have gone before them, they are dedicated to seeing what happens when word and worship collide.
‘Fresh Mercy’ is the result of collaborations between four Elim worship leaders, Sam Blake, Stephen Gibson, Joel
Pridmore and Ian Yates. Having started to discuss the condition of worship within their movement back in 2009, the group agreed that while they were aware of the church’s rich musical heritage, its present sound was a little harder to define.
‘There isn’t a collective Elim sound right now,’ explains Joel. ‘Churches are often characterised by their music and you can tell a lot about a church by walking in during the worship. There might be churches that sing Soul Survivor songs or others who find that Hillsong songs are connecting with people, but there aren’t songs that specifically help express who we are as Elim churches.’
Not that the band want to create a set of songs that churches must sing... ‘we just want to inspire, to create, to equip and leave others ready to do it themselves,’ says Joel.
The twelve songs on ‘Fresh Mercy’ offer plenty of opportunity for that to happen, whether exploring the nature of the Father, Son or Holy Spirit, the second coming or the value of faith, hope and love. Each member of the band knows just why each song has its place:
‘Let The Fire Fall contains the line ‘we honour you’,’ says Sam. ‘We were thinking about the time when Jesus went back to his home town and he wasn’t able to do many miracles because there was not enough honour - so we flipped it around. We want the signs, wonders and miracles to be present in the church, and we want to make space for the Holy Spirit to work.’
‘And in the song Holy Spirit,’ says Stephen, ‘we didn’t want it to be brooding and intense. So the song has a happy feel to it - the sort that you could sing at the start of your day.’
‘We were just having a time of worship together one morning,’ explains Ian, ‘and we started singing Psalm 103 - ‘let all that is within me bless your name’. It was so powerful, and continued to be even to the point of recording the song Bless Your Name in the studio. There’s a connection with your spirit, something powerful going on.’
‘I was interested in the tension between the fact that we know that the kingdom is coming, but it has also already come. We don’t sing much about the second coming of Christ, but in the past Elim would have had strong teaching on that. That’s why ‘The Kingdom Is Coming’ includes a recording of Elim Founder George Jeffreys.’
The album was produced by Trevor Michael (Delirious?) who also produced Ian’s 2010 album ‘The Hope and the
Glory’. ‘Fresh Mercy’ features full vocals from members of Elim congregations, and the musical talents of Ian Yates, Joel
Pridmore, Sam Blake and Stephen Gibson.
‘Elim Sound have captured the DNA of a Movement that was birthed a century ago in the flames of a powerful revival. One of the hallmarks of this supernatural outpouring was music. A hundred years later a new generation has arisen with a parallel passion for God. I believe this album has captured a sound from heaven that will touch the hearts of all who hear it irrespective of their Denomination or Stream’ – John Glass, Elim Leader
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