As an avid Hillsong listener (yes, all the Hillsongs — Worship, United, Young & Free, Chapel — you name it), I was excited to dive into Young & Free’s newest record and first studio album, III, for my first ever review.
To read about my thought process when it comes to reviewing music (worship music in particular), take a moment to check out my short article, “Why I Review.”
Let Go
Anyone who speaks fluent Christianese is familiar with the phrase, “Let go and let God.” The idea of surrendering a former life for the one God has in store for us isn’t a new one for Hillsong to explore (I hear Matt Crocker belting, “LORD HAVE YUH WAY IIIIIIIN MEHHHHHH,” in my head as I type this), but the choice to start the album with this track sets the listener up to opening their heart in order to receive whatever God has to say to them throughout the rest of the album. While some may consider this a typical-sounding Y&F track, writers Aodhan King, Ben Tan, and Laura Toggs make interesting compositional choices that set “Let Go” apart. For starters, the choice to nix whatever bridge might’ve originally been on the drawing board and repeat the chorus an additional time instead is a brave one, given Hillsong’s track record of powerful, infinite-repeat-during-corporate-worship-worthy bridges. And the decision to have Karina Wykes sing the song’s second voice instead of having Y&F regular (and one of Y&F’s main songwriters) Aodhan King sing the entire track is a refreshing switch-up.
Favorite lyric: “So I let go and I let love show me life like it’s supposed to be” is a reminder of the fullness of a life lived with Christ at the center rather than the broken, forever incomplete version of life that the world offers. The mention of an oasis in the next line reminds me of Eden, and the perfection of both God and the eternal life that we in Christ will experience.
Favorite musical moment: The beat change in the tag after each chorus is killer—love the beat change, and the “oh la la” is a nice touch.
Every Little Thing
Unfortunately, this is one of the more forgettable songs on the album for me. Although it’s a great reminder of Matthew 6:34 (“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today”), most of the lyrics aren’t particularly refreshing or innovative. Repeating an idea/a line several times can be really great when it’s done really well; even the oh’s in Hillsong UNITED’s “With Everything” carry a certain power, like a battle cry. But “every little thing’s gonna be alright” followed immediately by “every little thing’s gonna be just fine” makes me wonder if more thought could’ve been put into a chorus that could’ve become an anthem. In addition to this, the breakdown after the chorus sounds a lot like other post-chorus breakdowns that Y&F has created. The production is fun—love the distorted words that open the song—but overall, this isn’t a track that I would return to often.
Favorite lyric: “Why would I dwell upon the road’s uncertainties when all I gotta do is look to You?” (ooh, Romans 8:5 & Colossians 3:1–4)
Favorite musical moment: The difference in the breakdown in the last post-chorus tag gives the listener something to look forward to when we expect that all the choruses will be the same.
Just Jesus
Full disclosure: I can’t get over the fact that you can sing One Dance right on top of this song (go ahead, try it.) And I rolled my eyes at that when I first came to that realization, but I kind of dig it now. I’m not entirely sure how this song fits into the grand scheme of the album, but it’s a fun track on its own that you don’t have to think too much about. I love that the song’s main point is that Jesus is the only way, truth, and life—in a time where people consider God to be whatever they want Him to be, or even several different things, Christians can’t afford to not declare the name of Jesus as the world’s only Savior. My only real complaint with this song might be that the production feels like it overpowers Laura Toggs’ voice sometimes.
Favorite lyric: “And I got no plan left besides just Jesus”—yo, relatable. Sounds like my whole life.
Favorite musical moment: Y&F does a lot of vocal distortion on this album, and the distorted “way, truth, life” after each chorus is one of my favorite instances of that on this album.
First Love
This is absolutely one of my favorite tracks on III, if not my favorite. The synths that play throughout the song remind me a lot of the overall feel of Leeland’s last album, Invisible. What I love most about this song is the idea of reminiscing on falling in love with Jesus for the first time, and being desperate to be back in that place and close to God again. For me, what’s attached to being desperate for God is the realization that nothing in the world could ever come close to being in His presence, and abandoning everything that I ever thought would satisfy me apart from Him. (Side note: “Touch of Heaven” from There Is More reminds me of this, too.) To me, the focus on Renee Sieff’s voice in the first chorus reinforces that just-me-and-God idea. The whole song feels like a personal prayer to me, so I love that. Also, I LOVE that Sieff goes for the high octave in verse 2, and I think I love the melody of this song so much because lines in both the pre-chorus and the chorus play with the relationship between the leading tone note and the tonic note of the scale (“kindling” in the first pre-chorus, “to love you more” in the chorus, “driftwood” in the second pre-chorus), which is something I love about certain melodies for reasons I can’t explain.
Favorite lyric: Can we talk a bit about the friends that Sieff is singing about? (“I’ve seen far too many friends walk away and not come back” to “ This is all I pray, over everything I ask, that my friends one day come back” to “So I’ll give my life for the ones still lost, and I’ll see my friends reclaim their first love first again.”) How many of you guys have friends in mind when you hear this song? How many of you guys ARE that friend? Dang. Love it. I also feel so convicted by the line, “‘Cause the fire won’t mean a thing if it ends right here with me; You want more than that.” Wow.
Favorite musical moment: Okay, I already talked about the leading tone/tonic thing in my overall summary of this song… But I also love the interlude before the last chorus.
Heart of God
“Heart of God” has a lot of great ideas packed into one track—God’s mercy triumphs over judgment (“YOUUUU DELIIIIGHT IN SHOOOWING MERRRRCYYYY”, anyone?), God’s kindness leads us to repentance, surrendering to Jesus, God is all we want, etc.—but I found myself trying to find something original in this song. The horns in the beginning are definitely interesting, and the beat that comes in after the first verse is unique (kind of sounds like something is getting stuck and unstuck over and over again), but I was hoping for something a little more fresh.
Favorite lyric: I am obsessed with the idea of God’s kindness leading us to repentance, so my favorite lyric from “Heart of God” would have to be, “Lord, Your kindness leads us to repentance, to the heart of God.”
Favorite musical moment: Let’s hear it for the gospel choir in the bridge!!! Wish they were present for more of the song, because they’re doing great things.
SELAH I
Wow, I really love this. The Gospel message IS the heart of God, so it was very fitting to have an excerpt of the late Billy Graham remind us of who we are and who God is with John 3:16. The piano is beautiful, and it makes me kind of wish that the instrumentation for “Heart of God” was piano and vocals only. The filter on the voice is cool, too. I’m with this 100%.
Favorite lyric: There aren’t many to choose from in this track, but I do really like, “Here I stand before You now, as honestly as I know how.” Transparency and authenticity is so important to our relationship with God, and it’s the only way we’ll truly be impacted by His love, joy, hope, and peace.
Favorite musical moment: The piano!!!!! Everything the piano does is amazing. End of discussion.
Jesus Loves Me
Keeping it real here: not a huge fan of this one. I appreciate the acoustic guitar on this; it’s a nice break from the heavy use of electronic effects on every other song so far. Honestly, I feel weird singing the chorus and bridge because I’m an adult, and as much as I love the idea of approaching God as a child would (Mark 10:15) and having a childlike faith (Matthew 18:3), it feels impossible for me to detach the children’s song from this track.
Favorite lyric: All of the verses are great, but I really love thinking about Jesus’ triumph over death for all of eternity, so I especially love verse 3 (“It was just three days, but it changed our world, for when there seemed no way, from the grave He rose.”)
Favorite musical moment: Unfortunately, the song is sort of a big plateau for the most part to me, but as I mentioned before, I do like the acoustic guitar from the beginning of the song. I also like the bridge for the same reason.
SELAH II
In my opinion, “SELAH II” doesn’t add as much to “Jesus Loves Me” as “SELAH I” did to “Heart of God,” and I’m not sure it was necessary, but it’s definitely a beautiful extension that will help the listener meditate on the words of “Jesus Loves Me.” I wouldn’t be surprised if this was just a spontaneous moment after the final cut of “Jesus Loves Me,” and that’s part of why I like it.
Favorite musical moment: I love me a good kick drum build-up—“SELAH II” does this really well in the second half of the track, and the cymbal rolls are great as well.
Days Gone By
One of the wordier tracks on III, “Days Gone By” tells the story of a prodigal who’s come back to God and reflects on how present God was all throughout their past—a story I’m sure most of us can relate to. I really appreciate how simple the production is in this song; this is another track that reminds me of a personal prayer. Even the added features that boost the last chorus up to new heights briefly before the song ends don’t overpower the vocals. I wonder if the use of autotune was simply an artistic choice; the mix/falsetto switches sound a little autotuned to my ears, but I thought the same thing about Audrey Assad’s music until I watched videos of her switching to and from falsetto effortlessly and beautifully, so I’m less skeptical.
Favorite lyric: Unfortunately, I don’t think the song offers much originality with its lyrics, but there are some great lines in the second verse: “You took my fragile fate and didn’t hesitate, Your love in every scar; passion with no restraints held back the darkest days, so now my life is Yours.”
Favorite musical moment: Going back to the idea of this song being a personal prayer, reflecting upon God’s unwavering faithfulness, I like the emotional swell in the last chorus, and how the song ends on piano and vocals again.
How Deep is the Love
The more I listen to “How Deep Is The Love,” the more I like it, because I keep finding new things to appreciate about it. Everything from the electric guitar opening, to the synthesizer that comes up in blips in the second verse and also has a solo after the second chorus (I thought it felt really out of place at first, but it’s definitely a unique creative choice), to the references to Psalm 23 in the second verse, to Melodie Wagner’s takeover of the last chorus makes me want to revisit this song. I still don’t think the lyrics are super fresh, and the nana-na-nana-nana section at the end of the song reminds me a little too much of “Touch of Heaven” from There Is More, but there’s enough to like about this song that compels me to play it during my personal quiet time.
Favorite lyric: “Before I even said, ‘I’m sorry,’ You made a way for me” reminds me so much of the world’s justice system compared to God’s, and how His love for us runs far deeper than all the apologies we could ever say to Him that could never make up for the weight of sin anyway. You might say that… it makes no sense… but this… is grace…
Favorite musical moment: I really love Aodhan King’s melodies going into the last chorus, which continue throughout that section of the song.
Push/Pull
The first thing I’ll say is that the first few notes of the first verse exactly like the “now until for — ” in “Pursue” from the This is Living EP (or my preferred version, “Pursue/All I Need Is You — Medley/Live” from OPEN HEAVEN / River Wild (Deluxe/Live). Now that that’s out of the way, wow, Tracy Lee Pratt’s voice is beautiful and it’s a great for this song. Honestly, “Push / Pull” didn’t stay with me long after my first listen, but just like with “How Deep,” I appreciate it more with every listen. As I reflect more on the idea of pushing vs. pulling, I realize how much of our lives—even our day-to-day—is made up of constant pushing and pulling. The Christian walk includes daily death to self, daily surrender, daily acknowledgment that God is too good for us to comprehend so we just need to let His grace pull us back to Him instead of refusing Him for temporary things that could never compare. One of my favorite places to be in prayer is a heart posture where I’m overwhelmed by how a God so glorious could ever look at a sinner like me, much less rescue for eternity. This is a beautiful song that brings me to that place. Also, I can’t get over how great Alexander Epa Iosefa sounds, and BROOKE LIGERTWOOD.
Favorite lyric: “You call me Yours, how can it be? In awe again, here remembering you won’t give me up” reminds me, again, of those very special times when I’m on my knees just completely amazed at how He could receive such a sinner into His arms, and call me His.
Favorite musical moment: Iosefa’s voice is beautiful, and I love love love the harmonies in the bridge.
Love Won’t Let Me Down
WE’VE MADE IT TO MY JAM. Admittedly, I wasn’t a fan of this song when it was first released as a single last year, but there are a ton of fun things that happen in this track. By this point in the album, I wish Y&F had explored more facets of God outside of the fact that His love will never leave us/I-didn’t-know-before-but-now-I-realize-that-God-is-for-me, but this is still a nice feel-good track. I’m surprised that this wasn’t the opening or closing track of the album.
Favorite lyric: “You paint the sky with promises of Your grace so I would find my way to you” is such a pretty line.
Favorite musical moment: The HEY HEYs (or whatever those are) in the chorus are fun, and the breakdown after the chorus is pretty great (I love how the melody plays with the downbeat in different iterations of the motif).
More of You
As much as I love Melodie Wagner’s voice, “More of You” is not really a standout track on this album to me. There are plenty of things that I like about this song, though. The snare hits in the verse are cool, and I really like the snaps right before the choruses. “More of You, less of me” is a commonly-used idea in Christian music—I’d love to ask Y&F what their thought process was in attempting to put a new spin on this thought.
Favorite lyric: “When You give Your heart, You don’t leave me wanting for anything” reminds me of a lot of “Pieces” by Bethel Music (cue belting, “YOUUUU DONNNN’T HIIIIIDE YOUUUURSELLLLLF TOOOOO TEEAAAAASSSE AHHHHHSSSSS,” in my mind)—love the thought that God’s love is complete and satisfying.
Favorite musical moment: It’s a tiny moment, but I really love the single snap and bass slide(?) into each chorus. I also think that the harmonies that arrive towards the end of the second verse and stay throughout the second chorus are really nice and not too overpowering.
Hindsight
“Hindsight” reminds me a lot of an Elevation Worship song, but I can’t put my finger on what exactly makes me think that. Maybe it’s the God-will-do-it-again thing? Even though I think Alexander Pappas sounds great on this track, there are a few things I’m not a huge fan of—one of them being the last repetition of the chorus, where the first three lines are sung in the lower octave, to “drop” the song so it can build up to a huge final chorus. Granted, I’m guilty of using that gimmick (as much as I hesitate to use that word) plenty of times in my own songwriting and when I lead worship, but it’s used in so many other CCM songs that I hoped Y&F might do something more original as a build-up. Still, this song was one of the few that really caught my attention the first time I listened to the album in full.
Favorite lyric: “The God I know is known for faithfulness” is a cool line because wow, can you believe there’s not a SINGLE time He’s broken a promise He’s made?
Favorite musical moment: I love oh’s before the last pre-chorus and the tom fills before the last chorus.
P E A C E
I won’t say much about this track because I think it speaks for itself; it is definitely one of my favorites from III (even though I initially complained that it was “kind of boring” to my friends, it’s seriously ministered to me since then.) As someone who struggles with anxiety, I love the idea that His peace is always readily accessible for us. It’s promised to us and will never change. But will we think of His sovereignty and choose to fix our eyes on Him, or will we keep our blinders on and focus on what the world is throwing at us? Also, Amanda Cook’s version of “P E A C E” is particularly powerful, so you should search that up on YouTube, too.
Favorite lyric: Ooh, I have a bunch… “Even when my mind wreaks havoc,” “peace when my thoughts wage war,” and “Let it flow when my mind’s under seige” feel like very accurate depictions of what happens in my brain when anxiety takes over, so I appreciate that honest imagery. I love declaring “My Jehovah Shalom” at the end of the second verse because that’s literally God’s Name. It’s not just that God has peace; He is literally the embodiment of peace. And finally, I love “All anxiety bows in the presence of Jesus the Keeper of Peace” because it’s such a powerful image.
Favorite musical moment: I love the subtle electric guitar accents, and the lush string pads.
SELAH III (Fruits of the Spirit)
I could really see myself meditating to “SELAH III” in my quiet time. I love that everyone seems to get involved on this track, and the slight filter on the piano is an interesting touch. “SELAH III” is simple and to-the-point—sometimes we just need songs like this that have more sonic space, leaving room for the soul to catch its breath and for the Spirit to minister to our souls.
Favorite lyric: There aren’t many words for me to choose from here (ha…) so I don’t know if I have a favorite.
Favorite musical moment: Yo, Iosefa is bringin’ the soul to this album and KILLIN’ IT.
Highs & Lows
Yessssss, Aodhan’s bringin’ us home. I’m a sucker for songs in 6/8, and I love Psalm 139. The idea of God being with us through the highs and lows of life isn’t new, but this song was beautifully written. Something about this track reminds me of “Water and Wine” from Wonder… maybe the oohs and the pads, and the slow build-up throughout the song. Just as I’m glad that “Water and Wine” closes Wonder, I’m glad this closes the album.
Favorite lyric: “Should I dance on the heights or make my bed among the depths, Your mercy waits at every end, like You planned it from the start.”
Favorite musical moment: Everything Is Good.
Overall Thoughts
This is a pretty solid first studio album from Y&F. There are times when I feel like there isn’t one cohesive thought that runs through the whole album, but it’s still quite enjoyable. There are tunes for every situation, from blasting worship music in the car while driving for long stretches of time, to meditative quiet time, to jamming with your friends. I wonder how this album can be used in corporate worship, though. When you have powerful anthems like “What A Beautiful Name,” “The Stand,” “No Other Name,” etc., where does this fit into that list of repertoire? I’m curious to see how various Hillsong churches around the globe incorporate this album into their services. But overall, I find myself enjoying this album more and more with each listen, and I’m excited for The Lord to continue speaking to me through these songs.
