Disclaimer: Integrity sends me stuff for free so I’ll tell you what I think about it. Don’t tell them no one really reads this blog.

A week ago I got an email from a nice lady at Integrity Music about this new worship team they’re working with. She attached a couple lead sheets that I didn’t open and a link to a video about the ministry/worship team. The video, which you can watch below, got me a little excited.

Abundant Life Ministries is the name of a church in Bradford, England. Their worship team goes by ALM:UK and that’s what they are – a worship team. Not a group of songwriters. Not recording artists. Not Christian rock stars. They are a group of young men and women who are working in the body of Christ, and sharing what they do with the rest of us.

AND they’re doing it against some substantial odds. Check out the video. These people are dedicated.

The CD came in the mail Tuesday, and I slid it into iTunes to listen to while I worked on some youth ministry stuff.

The first song demanded my undivided attention. And then the next did the same thing. And the next.

If I only had one word it would be anthem-y. (Pretend that’s a word for just a second.) Seriously. This is stuff you can’t not want to sing along with. These songs are not for small speakers or quiet times. These are anthems. These are simple chords that will provoke you and choruses that demand congregations. Name Above All Names – available on the 15th – is ten songs that will each fill and unite a room of believers.

Husband put it on his iPod yesterday morning before he went running. He got back, pulled one bud out of an ear, and said, “There’s not a bad song on this album.”

Stylistically, they remind me of Hillsong United, but on a more do-able level and less polished – in a good way.

And I don’t know if it’s possible to say this without sounding like a weird Christian, but a lot of the songs are just anointed. They’re simple but so full of the Spirit of God. (Which made more sense after I read the enclosed press release and learned about some of the difficult situations the songs were written through.)

Check out the video, and look for Name Above All Names on the 15th. My iTunes will be on Repeat All at least until then.