Indie pop singer-songwriter Michael Hughes Watson returns with a new worship album, Feeling. A simple 10 tracks and roughly 33 minutes in run time, this studio-produced record stands out from most others of its type. Where some worship acts try to look and sound cool, Watson pulls it off, from the artsy cover to the solid acoustic pop sound and beats. This album may not completely revolutionize the genre, but it is a worthy offering to put on your radar.

What helps is how personal the worship feels. The sparse instrumentation helps set the mood, while the simple lyrics convey an honest message. Some tracks focus solely on worship, like "Generations," which draws from an Old Testament practice of passing stories of the faith on to our children. Most of the tracks, however, deal with Watson trying to get into the right headspace for praising God. "Closer Than a Brother" finds him overwhelmed but taking comfort in the Lord, "Feeling like I never get a break/Wish I could just fly away/…But You are close to me." A memorable run of tracks is "Only Your Love" and "Remind Me." The former song revels in how Jesus' love pursues us and accepts us, but it practically flows into the latter track where Watson passionately cries for reminders of that love.

This plays overall toward the mood of this record, which is vulnerable worship. Watson is very clearly praising God (not much deconstruction here), but he's doing it in a way missed in much of the more popular worship music. Lyrically, these songs don't push the bounds of poetry and sometimes (especially on the title track) start to sound like everything else out there. But Watson manages to pull something off to distinguish himself, whether taking the lyric in a different direction or letting the music make a turn. Also, while this is firmly pop worship, he varies the individual tracks enough to keep things interesting.

Again, Feeling doesn't rewrite the worship genre, but it does feel fresh. The album's brevity also helps, making it more appealing to revisit. Michael Hughes Watson is incredibly talented and prolific and continues to impress with his creative output. Longtime fans should enjoy this album, while newcomers should be easily won over.

- Review date: 4/15/21, written by John Underdown of Jesusfreakhideout.com

Record Label: None
Album length: 10 tracks: 33 minutes
Street Date: April 9, 2021
Buy It: iTunes
Buy It: Amazon Music

1. Generation (3:21)
2. Feeling (3:18)
3. Falls into Place (3:08)
4. Closer Than a Brother (3:18)
5. Woods (4:04)
6. Only Your Love (2:50)
7. Remind Me (2:36)
8. If Nothing Else (3:17)
9. Purify My Heart 2 (3:54)
10. Lift You Up (3:00)