Just hearing the job title 'worship leader' conjours up a few things. In the American and UK churches, the chances are that the person is playing a guitar, is at the front of a service, probably wearing a checked shirt. And there's one other obvious presumption – this person is a man.
Despite the high profile of some female worship leaders over the last 20 years (Think of Lou Fellingham in the UK or Jenn Johnson in the US) the majority of worship leaders at big conferences, large churches and in local congregations are men. This is slowly changing, but it makes a welcome change to hear an album entirely led by women.
'Starlight' comes from Bethel Music, the worship ministry based at Bethel Church in Redding California. All of the tracks were recorded on a live tour – the first time a Bethel album has been recorded like that.
The first thing to say is that it's so refreshing to hear music made by woman, not just as backing singers or occasional guests. Worship leaders such as Johnson, and Grammy-winner Francesca Battistelli are the stars here. But less well-known names also appear including Kristene DiMarco, Kalley Heiligenthal and Melissa Helser.
The 14 tracks don't differ too much from Bethel's usual template. Delicate melodies crescendo into anthemic choruses which are backed by pounding drums and power chords. Popular worship tracks such as Battistelli's God I Look To You sit alongside newer songs such as Extravagant, which is reprised as an acoustic version at the end of the record.
The vocalists who share duties here each have stunning voices which soar above the backing band. In the quieter moments, the energy remains and, like many Bethel releases the listener can feel themselves pulled into the worship that was going on during the recording.
There isn't much in the way of innovation here, musically. Contemporary worship music seems to be running along the same lines as it has for the past couple of decades. There are a couple of acoustic tracks to break it up (Johnson's For The One is lovely) but the main style is big choruses and extended crescendos occasionally added to with a few synth flourishes. It isn't going to appeal to new fans, but if you like the prevailing style of worship then this will be up your street.
Maybe the lack of musical innovation isn't really the point, though. The ground being broken here is that a whole album of worship from one of the world's most influential churches is being led by women – and that's a good thing.
