Meet & Greet: Hillsong + Delirious
By the members’ own accounts, 2003 was not the best year across the board in the life of pioneering British worship rock act Delirious? A close friend and family member had passed away, sparking a season of mourning. Then an attempt at opening an American branch of the band’s United Kingdom-based independent record label was foiled by the struggling post 9/11 economy. But a true high point came in July when the five-man outfit best known for modern hits like “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever” traveled to Sydney, Australia, to perform its brand of electrified praise at the Hillsong Conference with Darlene Zschech (“Shout to the Lord”) and Hillsong’s worship team.
Highlights from that event, recorded live at the Olympic Superdome before an inspiring, Australian record-setting audience of 20,000 worshipers, are available now on the Hillsong + Delirious? CD release entitled [UP] Unified: Praise.
Indeed, the conference appears to have inspired Delirious? as much as those for whom the band led worship that night, perhaps even boosting some of the passion so evident in its own subsequent 2004 release, World Service.
Listen to song samples or buy Unified Praise from Songs4Worship.com
Lead singer Martin Smith recalls, “The night of recording was with people from all over the world gathered to sing songs about our creator. After all these years of playing, there are just some nights that leave you with a sense of wonderment that something good and profound has just happened, and that someone bigger than music has just graced us with his divine presence.
“It’s the first time we have partnered with someone on a recording, and it just felt like the right thing as people sang their hearts out to Hillsong anthems and Delirious? songs alike…Also, the fantastic Hillsong choir made our new song ‘Majesty (Here I Am)’ sound spine tingling!”
Smith’s description of [UP] Unified: Praise is accurate. The project opens with a faithful blend of Hillsong favorites: the praise band’s undeniably rousing “Everyday” and intensely rocking “Free” and Zschech singing lead on the richly melodic “I Give You My Heart” and “Worthy Is the Lamb.” Hillsong begins to segue into the Delirious? set with a quiet version of “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever,” joined midway through by Smith, much to the crowd’s delight.
The last five tracks showcase the Delirious? in-concert experience and are testament to the band’s stirring talent. In their able musical hands, the members make new songs like “Rain Down” – never heard before by the audience at that point – just as instantly embraceable as the longtime favorite “Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble.” Zschech joins the band for “What a Friend I’ve Found,” adding much to this dynamic version with her soft voice, especially during the opening acoustic section.
But the best of [UP] Unified: Praise is clearly saved for last with a 10-minute version of another Delirious? favorite, “History Maker.” Adept at re-inventing its own work, the band pours new energy into the song’s performance and arrangement, an epic swirl of expansive keyboards, soulfully sliding electric guitars, and tight rock rhythm. Toward the end, the instruments retreat, and Smith brings the music and the moment into focus with some impromptu preaching:
“Psalm 24 says, ‘He who has clean hand and a pure heart, he will ascend the hill of the Lord.’ Being a history maker is more about the choices you make, not about the songs you sing. It’s about staying married to the person you promised to be with. It’s about honoring your friends before yourself, and it’s about walking humbly before the King of kings.”
And with that, Delirious? rocks the conference and [UP] Unified: Praise to a close, leaving behind the beautiful sound of 20,000 jubilant worshipers.
In general, collaborations in modern worship music—where community is expected—are certainly not so rare. Martin Smith and Darlene Zschech have even appeared on record together before, on her Kiss of Heaven solo album, singing a version of U2’s “Walk On.” But the complete pairing of Hillsong and Delirious? is rare, making [UP] Unified: Praise shine apart from any previous stand alone church or band effort.
Smith sums up this piece of history, simply saying, “It was a night we will never forget.” —Chris Davidson
Originally published February 23, 2005.
