Dove and GRAMMY Award-winning singer/songwriter, producer and worship leader Israel Houghton has started the at-home intimacy of his Worship Wednesday sessions and the electricity of a live Israel and New Breed recording to listeners with Feels Like Home: The Quarantine Worship Experience, available globally February 26.
Recorded live, the 14-track Feels Like Home will be available to stream and to purchase in digital, CD and vinyl formats with a pre-order and instant-grat track available immediately.
The Feels Like Home project blossomed out of Houghton’s idea in early 2020 to frequently stream worship services, the motivation behind what would become his “Worship Wednesdays,” after seeing an opportunity to explore and regenerate group worship online throughout the pandemic.
The Israel and New Breed ensemble of vocalists and musicians streamed Feels Like Home live from Houghton’s sister-in-law’s New York home in November after each member agreed to quarantine and test for COVID-19 prior to the gathering. Deftly led by Houghton alongside his wife, Adrienne, the ensemble performed while seated “in the round,” creating a warm improvisatory looseness reminiscent of Gospel music’s roots as a communal religious celebration and experience. This includes new single “Hymn of Breakthrough,” a brightly burning, slow-building epiphany of the “sound of breakthrough” as it echoes throughout the ensemble.
“New Breed celebrated our 20th year together in 2020,” says Houghton. “And although the entire landscape changed with how we do concerts and touring, we knew it was still important to come together. I’m grateful for the sacrifices made by everyone on our team to carefully gather and participate in this offering. Truth be told, it’s one of the most rewarding worship experiences I’ve ever been a part of.”
Worship teams from across the globe were given the opportunity to be part of the experience by submitting footage of themselves covering any Israel and New Breed song. These videos were shown during the brief intermission. We spotted Premier Gospel favourite Tim Godfrey & Xtreme, whose vocal interpretation of ‘Moving Forward’ was outstanding.
Since the release of his first studio album in 1997, Houghton has innovated a sound of worship that combines a variety of music styles and reflects the diversity of the Kingdom of God as well as his own multicultural upbringing.
He is a solo artist and the pointman for Israel and New Breed includes six GRAMMY Awards, 16 Dove Awards and a discography of bestselling albums including New Season, Live From Another Level, A Deeper Level, Alive in South Africa, Covered: Alive In Asia, Real, The Power of One and Love God/Love People.
