Housefires, a group of musicians from the Grace Midtown Church in Atlanta (a series of individual house churches in that meet together in the downtown area), hit a grand slam on their last outing (the numerically numbered II) with "Good Good Father." This elegant and simple expression of the fatherhood of God has been covered by the likes of Chris Tomlin and Zealand Worship, and is a strong contender for "worship song of the decade."

A song like that gives a band an even greater platform and budget, so it's refreshing that the group didn't try and go with an over-produced follow up album. Instead, they opted to complete the trilogy of albums with a sonically similar, live album of original tunes.

An album like this (essentially a concert album) should be graded on the merits of the songs themselves, and not on the odd stage banter, bad jokes and other hallmarks of a live recording in a crowded room. By that metric, III is full of songs of great potential, but it's hard to gauge their full measure in this mostly acoustic setting. (Think of an unplugged album without the context of the "plugged" songs to go by.)

Having said that, III has the intimate feel of a Saturday night worship service with no agenda other than to worship collectively. After a brief, almost a cappella call to worship in "Filled With Your Glory," "Your Love Is Alive" rings out clearly with a sharp melody and a great use of a violin counterpoint to add depth and drama to the tune. Lyrics like "Your love is beating inside of my heart and my soul and my mind / your love is alive / your love is alive / your love is leading me into the way and the truth and the life" show that the Housefires crew take a sometimes tired expression (of something that's inexpressible) and give it a crafty spin. A subject as universe-binding as the love of God deserves a fresh take every time out, and "Your Love Is Alive" is a deeper and more well-done song than the pedestrian title would suggest.

The same goes for "Life Is A Gift." The repeated refrain "life is a gift / and the Giver is good" is passionately delivered and wonderfully repeated by the congregation of singers. The sentiment of this song is perhaps an over-done "positive" mantra, but the slight twist of mentioning that "the Giver is good" takes the idea and breathes fresh life into it.

That is perhaps Housefire's greatest strength--taking a well-worn idea and turning it just slightly to reveal a new, interesting angle. "Good Good Father" doesn't say anything particularly groundbreaking, but the slight angle of the song, the timeless subject and its great melody makes it more than the sum of its parts.

So too is it with the songs on III. Nothing here is sonically or thematically groundbreaking, but the album does capture something in its presentation and stripped-down nature. With hints of Hillsong United (especially in the "Oceans"-like "On And On") and other local church-centric recordings, Housefires is a "movement" with great artistic potential and a sincere heart for leading God's people in worship. III captures an honest and heartfelt night of worship, with songs that have just enough interesting angles and moments to engage listeners. It will be interesting to see where the band goes from here.

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(JFH Sponsor Spot)

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 Record Label: None
 Album length: 12 tracks: 77 minutes, 12 seconds
 Street Date: August 12, 2016
 Buy It:iTunes
 Buy It: Amazon

1. Filled With Your Glory (1:23)
2. Your Love Is Alive (6:19)
3. Great Is The Lord (7:10)
4. Life Is a Gift (5:54)
5. Yes and Amen (7:06)
6. Mountain To Valley (6:41)
7. Seek First (6:37)
8. Build My Life (8:11)
9. Abide (8:07)
10. Fill Me with the Fullness (6:16)
11. On and On (8:01)
12. This Is Where I Belong (5:27)