Believe it or not, it's 16 years since Tim Hughes wrote one of the definitive contemporary worship songs – Here I Am To Worship. While it might seem like only yesterday that congregations in the UK, USA and beyond began belting it out, he's now releasing his fifth album.
Pocketful Of Faith is a slight change of direction for the man who began leading worship in his teens, but is now ordained in the Church of England and leading the first of HTB's church plants to Birmingham. That doesn't mean the style has shifted hugely from his previous efforts, more a subtle move towards a fuller palate of sound, while retaining the familiar style of a church worship band.
Some will already be familiar with Set Apart, The Cross Stands and The Way, which have been sung at Christian festivals for the last couple of summers, and featured on recordings by Worship Central - the project co-founded by Hughes. The former two have big singalong choruses while the latter shows more of an electronic influences – perhaps indicating Tim's been spending time with Bright City, whose style is similar. "Plans" sounds like it may have been influenced by David Crowder's recent country-style recrodings – no bad thing.
For me, the highlight of this album is Hope And Glory. It's a wonderfully simple track in an old hymnody style. This means it will work well for congregational singing – verse and chorus are incredibly easy to pick up and their simplicity is powerful. This could become a classic over the next few years – up there with some of Stuart Townend's best contemporary hymns.
Lyrically, you can sense the change in life that's looming for the Hughes family as they leave London to begin a new life in the West Midlands. "Trusting promises you've spoken/You've got plans to give us/A future and a hope" sings Hughes on "Plans." The title track meanwhile finds him amid the uncertainty, "I'm giving it all/Leaving the safety/Here at the shore/Beyond the horizon/I see there is so much more."
The closing track Hallelujah shows similar emotions, beginning, "Though My Feet May Fall/And the way seems unsure." By the end of the song he's singing "Questions waiting at the door/Still I'll sing for you are Lord."
It feels like we've been given a glimpse into one of the major British worship leaders of our generation at a time when he's actually uncertain and even a bit vulnerable. How refreshing to read those lyrics of uncertainty. The liner notes emphasise the sense of vulnerability when Hughes writes, "These songs are prayers, cries of hope, declarations of promises... longings for God to do something truly extraordinary."
It will be interesting to chart Hughes' journey over the next few years to see if his new environment and the challenges of planting a church affect his musical output. There's still room for more risk-taking in his music. But this is a good collection of worshipful tracks which will be sung in London, Birmingham and across the land.
