kktz: hillsong united zion

hillsong united zion

Hillsong United's new 2013 album Zion is the current christian music rock style band. Hillsong United originate from Australia. They started working on this album in 2011. 2 years down the line finally in 2013, the album was released on 22nd February. Hillsong united zion was produced by Michael Guy Chislett and Joel Houston as excutive producer. The tracks from the album includes:

On an interview with CCM magazine, some of the answers from the questions where
1. Why did hillsong united choose the title zion and the answer was:

From the outset, I felt like this was going to be a project that spoke simply and decisively of the story of God...of the sense of purpose and mission that comes from realizing where we fit in the picture. I'm convinced that we are not only redeemed, but we are redeemed and called into the story of God with a specific plan and purpose. This is why we undertook this project in the first place; not just to add another worship title to the catalogue, or to fulfill the project quota. In fact, it was the opposite; we did it because we believe that God is wild enough to entrust us with His song and His message, and use us to display it the best that we can to others. That's the call; we are going to answer it to the extent of our ability and a whole lotta faith. This is zion; the city of God, the people of God...allowing the spirit to breathe His eternal and unshakeable kingdom in and through us as we simply trust and love Him. It's a completely ludicrous thought, but it's the truth, and the revelation of it has filled me with more passion, purpose and confidence than ever. hillsong united zion is not a hostage held for the future; it was established at the cross, and the cornerstone (Jesus) was laid down, so that we may triumphantly take our place in establishing the New Jerusalem, the new reality...here and now.

2. Can you tell us about the more aggressive sound on this song?
I don't know that the sound is more 'aggressive.' Unless by 'aggressive' you mean 'new.' I think we have always set out to write songs and create musical expression that is almost uncomfortable in its uniqueness. Not for the sake of progression, or to keep pace with whatever the trends say, but simply because I feel like it's an essential aspect of what I believe worship is.

It's supposed to be costly, it should always cause us to step into a place where our strength is made invisible in the complete pervasiveness of His power in all that we do, and that involves taking risks. With this project, we made a very simple decision not to compromise...not on anything; the lyrics, the sound, the devotion and the story behind each and every song carries and weight and a confession a beauty that comes from KNOWING God is in this! That doesn't mean the album is perfect, but I do believe it represents the true heartbeat of really ordinary people who, in desperate need and passionate response to their Savior, chose to give the best that we could.

3.What do you want listeners to take away from the album?
I think my favorite thing about ZION is that it all points to one thing—the kingdom of God established here on earth and in our lives. So, I want the listener to engage with the lyrics more than anything. We didn't want to just record another album for the sake of it, so everything had to have a reason for being on the album. It's a journey that we want people to experience start to finish, so they can fully immerse themselves in the story and feel what we were feeling when we wrote and recorded this album

4.Are there any different band members on this record, and how did they affect the new sound?
As far as new members, there really was only one guy. He had never done anything with us before, but got super involved with the recording of zion. His name is Benjamin Tennikoff, but everyone knows him as 'Tenni.' Tenni has been a part of the team back home in Sydney for years, and is one of the most loyal/faithful guys you'll ever come across.
He plays keys and is super creative with sounds, so Mikey Chislett (who produced zion and several other united albums) thought he'd be an awesome addition to this project, and we flew him over to NYC with us. He came up with a lot of the synth sounds and actually wrote the music that was actually inspiration for the songs 'Heartbeats' and 'Tapestry.' We also had some of the guys from past projects like Joel Hingston and Matt Tennikoff (Ben Tennikoff's older brother) come back in and help record guitar and bass parts for some of the songs.