November 28, 2005 - Change Your World

Send To Printer
Change Your World - Darlene Zschech
2005, INO Records
Reviewed by Jamin Tuttle
November 28, 2005

Christian pop singer Darlene Zschech still sounds funny as she gears up for her second solo project, but it fits this talented woman. Zschech hit worldwide fame as Worship Pastor for Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia. (Hillsong has released over 25 live worship albums and millions sing their songs, such as “Shout to the Lord,” in services every week.) With one radio hit from her first solo effort, Kiss of Heaven, Zschech dives back into the Christian CCM scene.

Lush arrangements featuring strings, layers of guitars, percussion, and Zschech vocals fill the 12 tracks that make up Change Your World. With worship such a focus for Zschech, it shouldn’t surprise us that this album is filled with songs that reflect that. “You Are Holy” says, “I come before You, lift my hands to say I love You,” and, “With my life Lord I will serve You, every moment to be found in You.” This is the theme found throughout the album. There is a nice moment where Zschech rocks things out a bit on the encouraging number, “Never Give Up.” Some fun guitar licks and funky beats allow her to show a little more aggression vocally and it works well for her.

There are other songs worth your notice:

■ “You Are Here” opens the album with a reminder that God is with us through it all. While not blazing any new territory, lyrically it is nice to be reminded at times, “Everywhere I go, You were here with me, You were loving me, restoring me.”

■ The simple opening of “Call Upon Your Name” leads us into one of the strongest tracks on the project. This stirring, emotional hymn is a call to worship that is begging to be incorporated into some local Church worship services. It builds, and then ends like it began with just Zschech and a piano reminding us to, “Call upon His Name, He is the King of Glory.”

■ The title track came from years of work with Compassion International and the new Hope: Rwanda. (Zschech works with her husband, Mark, heading up Mercy Ministries Australia, and the Hope: Rwanda project.) She sings to those who need words of hope, “Though I’m many miles away, I’m right there with you, I’ll live to change your world. Your name is not forgotten.” It’s another simple arrangement that fits the mood and theme of this song perfectly.

■ Zschech closes the project by putting her own arrangement to Michael W. Smith’s modern classic “Agnus Dei.” The arrangement is ambitious with a choir singing parts of the chorus to start out. It then falls into the more typical start—simple and quiet and build—but unlike some arrangements, which end quietly, Zschech continues to build all the way to the end. A choir, and some key changes, make this an exciting new take on a powerful song.

I was a little skeptical when this project hit my desk, since I was not a huge fan of her first solo effort. She has taken things up a notch, however, for this project. It’s not the strongest female solo effort in Christian music this year, but it is a notable one that should allow her to find her way onto the Christian radio charts in the U.S. again. If you’re already a fan of her voice and talents through Hillsong, there may be just enough to justify getting this album. If you’ve never heard Darlene Zschech and would like to be introduced, this isn’t a bad introduction. It’s a pretty straight-forward pop album that never really lets go of Zschech’s worship roots.

One additional note, if you have any interest in learning more about the horrors and genocide in Rwanda and what some are doing to help, visit http://www.hoperwanda.org/.

ninetyandnine.com

---------

Jamin Tuttle is the Youth Pastor at Point of Grace Family Praise Fellowship, and the drummer in the praise band. He will be sleeping in the day this CD hits stores because the night before is the Colts vs. Patriots on Monday Night Football. Go Colts!