Worship Music Album Review: Echo the Angels -- Elevation Worship

Album Released: October 27, 2023

For my first review, I wanna talk about the latest Elevation Worship album that was released in October 2023 – I’m a little late on the timing, but it’s never a bad time to think about the savior's birth. This is also Elevation’s first full Christmas album Echo the Angels. Elevation is a well known worship music group that I would assume many, including myself, are quite familiar. I wanted something new that would allow my first listen to be critical and intentional. I wanted to be focused on listening the first time to have a genuine first impression. I absolutely love so many of Elevation Worship’s albums and music. I’ve attended an Elevation Worship concert, and their music is frequently on my playlist and my Sunday morning setlists. This album was such a detour from their expected style. It left me a bit unsure of where to start with this review. 

Christmas carols is a genre that needs remixes and updates to stay relevant and interesting. Music is constantly changing and for older music to survive it has to adjust to appeal to new generations with new musical tastes. Don’t get me wrong I love “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Joy to the World”, but I find myself putting the newer renditions and variations on my playlists. I love what different artists come up with to change up the classic, making it new and exciting again. I had high hopes, and while I enjoyed overall, it’s not what I was expecting and parts of it fell flat on my expectations. Echo the Angels had a strong alternative style, rather than their typical pop sound. It’s a unique twist, and it certainly is not what you’d expect from an album like this. 

Before getting into the musical details and thoughts of the album itself I want to give the more technical notes on this album.  While there are many interesting facets to this album, it does not have an easy to recreate quality, but maybe that’s the point. From vocal alterations and intricate instrumentals to just the way this album is laid out, it is not typical Sunday service friendly. It feels intended for listening and entertaining. Are there a few songs that could be used on a Sunday morning? Sure! Absolutely! Would it match the album? No. This album plays with alternative sounds, from electronic and ambience sounds to just their typical powerhouse of vocalists and instrumentals. The vocal sounds are even altered in multiple songs. Does that mean this music is for listening only? No, not at all, but if you decide you want to use these specific renditions, understand that mimicking will be near impossible. 

Now let’s talk music! This album has 10 tracks. My initial impression was that this album was intended to be a worship journey. It was created and carefully ordered to start with A Prophecy and end with Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee with very intentional ordering from beginning to end. 

The transitions between songs, while well done, they never felt like complete thought, music wouldn’t resolve and instead flowed right into the next song. I want to commend them for creating such a unique album, not only was it a departure from Elevation’s usual style, but it’s not something I’ve heard done in worship music too often. They created something meant to be enjoyed as a whole rather than just an album of various songs somewhat under a general theme. In my opinion, Echo the Angels goes through 3 chapters (sets) that create one cohesive story. 

This first chapter of Echo the Angels begins with “A Prophecy (Unto Us)” a quick instrumental that then goes right into “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” a new take on the classic, and clear evidence that this album was taking an alternative turn. It takes a moment to get into, it is unexpected and the vocals are altered. The third and last of this set – “Breath of Heaven”. I want to just talk about this third song because it is amazing.

“Breath of Heaven” — I could go on and on about how much I love this song and why, but really you should listen to it yourself. Tiffany Hudson nails the lyrical nature of this song, even if her voice was altered, she softens on the high notes rather than belting, her shifts in tone and volume are masterful and her voice was a great match for maintaining the original style of the song. 

This song has simple power. It’s minimalistic, emotional, and dramatic. The instrumental/vocal in the chorus vs verses is stunning. The verses are emotionally moving with dark undertones, the words with the instrumentation. The chorus is lovely, lighter in texture. They need each other to work, I would call this musical chiaroscuro – artistic blending of light & dark. The ending is apart from the rest, it moves the music to conclude this first set while also setting up for the next chapter.

From there we move into the next set, “Welcome to Our World” — “O Little Town of Bethlehem” — “JOY!” which following “Breath of Heaven” makes it a hard act to follow but it succeeds! 

“Welcome to Our World”, I definitely recognized it, but it took a little longer. There was so much excellent vocal control in this piece. Chris Brown was phenomenal on this. It’s one solo that didn’t sound vocally altered — which just added to the overall natural beauty of the piece. 

I wouldn’t have guessed I’d be hearing ambient sounds from Elevation. On my first listen I just kinda paused, and I think, out loud I said “Wait, what? Is that water and bird sounds? Why are there bird sounds?” I probably chuckled briefly cause it was just odd and felt so out of place with the rest of the album. After several more listens, while I do think it stands out, and steps away from the overall vibe of the album, it works. My appreciation and enjoyment increased the more I listened to it.

This is one of those songs that would not be Sunday morning friendly.  The birds and water just add this extra layer and once you hear it with those sounds it sounds like less of itself without it, that layer while at first confusing, once you are used to it, you won’t want it without it. I’d love to know what others thought of this song! Please tell me your thoughts in the comments!

The next song in this album is “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. They kept this one simple, and pleasant. A song like this doesn’t need adjustments, it’s a peaceful carol that helps recenter energy, it works nicely as a bridge to the next song. It is a beautiful song, Jonsal Barriente did a phenomenal job capturing the intended style of the song.

Something I will add here is that “O Little Town of Bethlehem” could be the end of the set, a bridge that ends one chapter to transition to next. I think it could be broken into the prelude and Hark the Herald being the first chapter. Then “Breath of Heaven” to “O Little Town” could also be a set. It could also be “Welcome to Our World” until “JOY!”. You decide where you think the split should be. 

“JOY!” Is a really fun song that included ELEVATION RHYTHM. It starts soft with ambience sounds which is why I debate its place in the set. In many ways it fits with “Welcome to Our World” in that way, but is obviously a faster, up tempo song. Either way though this song just makes me want to dance and praise. “Joy to the World” is already a great Christmas carol, this remix took the original and kicked it up several notches in a good way.

The next song, while not a Christmas carol, should still be familiar to many. “Here Comes Heaven” is an excellent follow to “JOY!”. It brings the energy down a bit without throwing the album to a full stop. It’s a nice change of pace, simpler instrumentation, a bit slower, but still powerful and beautiful. It’s the piece that while excellent on its own, it also allows the energy of the album to slowly shift for the next song.

“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” is the only choral song on this album performed by Elevation Choir. This song is beautiful, but it was my least favorite on the album. This is my bias though, I have just never been a big fan of listening to choral music. I was in choir all through middle and high school and college and I think that took away my desire to listen to it any other time. I think choral music can be absolutely stunning, don’t take my bias to mean this song is bad, it is not, and if you enjoy choral music, this one is excellent.

“Worthy & Wonderful/ Worthy of Worship” This song gave me musical goosebumps my first full listen. It didn’t do anything new or dramatic, but the blend of vocalists and instrumentals – particularly the chorus. The vocals on the verses were also great, the bridge while nice, instrumentally felt like there was too much, it took away the vocals which were the centerpiece of this track. Despite them not being my favorte parts, I would absolutely listen to this again and again for the chorus alone, I loved it that much. Mitch was the dominant vocalist but when Tiffany came in it just added that beautiful high accent. I love the subtle, powerful, lyrical songs. While I also love upbeat and fast songs, the ones I come back to most are songs like this, the lyrics while simple are emphasized in such a beautiful way. What message could be simpler than God is worthy of our praise. 

Overall, I definitely like this album a lot more after listening to it in its entirety to better hear the transitions and changes between songs. I definitely have songs I like more than others. I am a lover of subtle alternative instrumentals mixed with powerful lyrical pieces. I also certainly felt nostalgic for a couple of the songs, “Breath of Heaven” is a song I remember hearing when I was a child. My mom had a rotation of Christmas CDs and would turn them on while we decorated the tree or baked Christmas goodies. I think these songs were a good choice because I can imagine people of a wide range of ages appreciating these songs, for while they were new and unique they were also in my opinion still as beautiful and memorable.

In my personal opinion I give this album a 7 out of 10. Being unique is something hard to do in the modern day. As many say “there is no such thing as an original thought anymore”, new ideas are just old ones being recycled and altered. I could even say the same about my choice of Ministry of Joy Blog. There were several other names I cycled through when making the decision, there was always another similar name somewhere else. Ultimately, this name stuck because my husband, theological scholar, and loyal supporter of my passions picked this name because he saw the true point and my passion was finding joy – engaging with joy, leading with joy, sharing joy, having my worship ministry be one of sharing joy, sharing the joy that worship brings. And that is true about this album, Echo the Angels is taking songs that have been in some cases decades almost century old, but that didn’t stop them from those themes and ideas instead they let them be inspirational in a new way.

That wraps my first worship music review Echo the Angels by Elevation Worship. My favorite songs from this album are obviously “Breathe of Heaven”, “Welcome to Our World” , and “Worthy & Wonderful”. I highly encourage checking out this album! Let me know what your favorite track was in the comments!

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Ministry of Joy