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JFH Indie Review

JFH Indie Music Spotlight Review

Paul Zach
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Paul Zach
Hymns

Album length: 10 tracks
Style: Hymns / Worship / Acoustic
Street Date: February 5, 2021
Buy It: iTunes



Hymns will always provide us a deep well to drink from. We Christians are privileged to share a history of evocative lyrics married with structurally sound music. The trend of this century is to take these hymns and place them in diverse settings, be it wild reharmonizations or unique melodic directions. Paul Zach chose a different path. The album is as simply set as its title, and if you're familiar with his debut EP, or his work with The Porter's Gate, this record's acoustic ambience should come as no surprise. Hymns forsakes innovative interpretation for casual and quiet expression.

If any claim of experimentation could be made about this record, it's that some of these hymns haven't really been placed in the folksy and bluesy temperaments that unite this tracklist. This is most obvious on "I Want Jesus To Walk With Me," which feels almost like a western in its progression, as well as "No Not One," perhaps the energetic pinnacle of the album. More often than not, though, Zach gives us tracks like "All Hail The Power" and "Crown Him With Many Crowns" that feel more like he just picked up his guitar, played it how he played it, and left it at that. That's certainly not a bad thing: Zach's fragile, light falsetto and understated performances from some of his friends (Liz Vice, Leslie Jordan, and Page CXVI to name a few) is pleasant enough to carry the album. Just know that what you get on track 1 is what you will get all the way through track 10.

Searching for a lyrical reasoning for this particular selection of hymns may be misguided, but certain themes do seem to persist. The intimacy of a relationship with God, a desire for His peace, and a recognition of His power flows through the album. It's also interesting to note that a lot of these tunes come in thematic pairs. The acoustic and stand-up bass combo on "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" makes for a light-hearted exploration of trusting Jesus, but "I Want Jesus To Walk With Me" provides the desperate counterpart to that experience. Similarly, "All Hail The Power" and "Crown Him With Many Crowns" come back-to-back and carry over a lot of the same imagery. Cohesion is one thing this album accomplishes to a notedly satisfying degree.

With Hymns, Zach chose not to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it's clear that these songs were prepared in a way that inspires peaceful listening and playing or singing along. The absence of percussion keeps the energy low, but contemplative quietude prevails, and these versions will be nice additions to the ever-descending well of hymnal interpretation.

- Review date: 2/2/21, written by Mason Haynie of Jesusfreakhideout.com



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. Record Label: None, exclusively distributed by Integrity Music
. Album length: 10 tracks
. Street Date: February 5, 2021
. Buy It: iTunes

  1. Just a Closer Walk With Thee (featuring Page CXVI)
  2. No Not One (featuring The Sing Team)
  3. The Lord's Prayer (featuring Leslie Jordan)
  4. I Want Jesus to Walk With Me (featuring Liz Vice)
  5. Holy, Holy, Holy (featuring Leslie Jordan)
  6. Come Thou Fount (featuring Taylor Leonhardt)
  7. The Lord Is My Shepherd (featuring Page CXVI)
  8. All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name (featuring Liz Vice)
  9. Crown Him With Many Crowns (featuring Taylor Leonhardt)
  10. Take My Life and Let It Be (featuring Liz Vice)

 

 

 

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This Wednesday, October 22, 2025
SINGLES
Phil Wickham Fear Has No Power - Single [Fair Trade]

This Friday, October 24, 2025
ALBUMS
John Allan Resurrection Power - EP [Centricity]
Dan Bremnes The Villain - EP [Curb]
Clear Convictions Endure (2025 Remaster) [Resuscitation]
Fepeste This World Ain't Mine to Change [Velvet Blue]
gio. FINE BY ME [Capitol CMG]
God Behind Bars Music Live From Angola Prison Vol. 1 [Provident]
Hulvey HE WILL RETURN - EP [Reach]
Latter Day Exploits Within Consumed (Expanded Edition) [Charon Collective]
VaShawn Mitchell SOUNDCHECK [Fair Trade]
MORIAH Nice Life - EP [F2]
Tyson Motsenbocker Modern Worries [Tooth & Nail]
Smalltown Poets St. Augustine (independent)
Zahriya Zachary Rediscovery [Bethel]

SINGLES
29:11 Worship, Zion Rempel You Never Fail (feat. Emily Guy) - Single [DREAM]
The Band JAREN Poetic - Single [Hit and Run]
Joe L Barnes Grief, Joy, Gratitude - Single [Provident]
Brandon Lake, Jon Batiste, & Jelly Roll Hard Fought Hallelujah - Single [Provident]
Jonathan Cain No One Else - Single [The Fuel]
Chad Cory, Zacardi Cortez My First Love (Remix) - Single [DREAM]
Leanna Crawford Beginning Of Your Grace - Single [Provident]
darthy Juniper Tree - Single [WieRok]
EJ Swavv & Jericko Love Like This - Single [Syntax]
Emerson Day Midnight Hour - Single [Fair Trade]
Good Weather Forecast lows2highs - Single [DREAM]
goodwill. REST - Single [Syntax]
Grace + Max Rich - Single [WieRok]
Mat Kearney Good Old Days - Single (independent)
Kelo Car Freestyle - Single [Syntax]
Vic Lucas I Need You (ft. IsaiahLaRoi) - Single [Syntax]
Jamie Macdonald You Can't Take My Song - Single [Capitol CMG]
Myles Maestro I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever - Single [Syntax]
Martin Smith, Josh Baldwin I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever - Single [The Fuel]
Mercy Tribe Music The King is in the Room (feat. Ayiesha Woods) - Single (independent)
Mountains in the Sea Breakthrough - Single [DREAM]
Razzie & Glenn Ray Second Chances - Single [Syntax]
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Tomb Slayer The Christmas Lamb (feat. Khristian Dentley & Sarah Whittemore) - Single [Tomb Slayer]
tonyxtrotter, Yung Drew, Wayne Klassik HOLY HOLY HOLY - Single [Syntax]
The Undertaking! All Smiles - Single (independent)
Unseen Faith Cold Resolve - Single [Rottweiler Records]
Kim Zamolo Your Ways Are Higher - Single (independent)

VINYL
Clear Convictions Endure [Resuscitation]

Next Wednesday, October 29, 2025
ALBUMS
Brandon Lake Amazon Music Songline [Provident]

Next Friday, October 31, 2025
ALBUMS
Hope Deferred Darkness Remains [The Charon Collective]
MORIAH Nice Life - EP [F2]
SEU Worship What A God [Live at JOGS] (feat. Abbie Gamboa) - EP [Provident]
Testimony of Apocalypse Agony in the Garden [Roxx Records]

SINGLES
Dreamers My Heart His Home - Single [DREAM]
Roxanne Grace Try Again - Single [DREAM]
Lock & Chi Do To Me - Single (independent)
John Long Simple Pursuit - Single (independent)
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Poor Old Lu The Hurting - Single (independent)
Still Remains The Wound and the Weapon - Single (independent)
Warren Zeiders How Great Thou Art - Single [Warner]


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