Aodhán King “Beyond Us” Album Review

Prime Cuts: Thank You So Much Jesus; Time (with Lauren Daigle); What Would It Be Like? (with Hannah Hobbs)

Overall Grade: 3/5

Aodhán King is no novice to the worship scene. He is a founding member of the twice Grammy-nominated band Hillsong Young & Free (Y&F). The group's accomplishments are staggering: with over 1.2 billion streams in North America alone, eight #1 singles, and ten Top 10 singles on Hot AC radio. They have also produced five Top 100 CCLI songs, including "Sinking Deep," "Real Love," and "Alive." Y&F has performed at over 225 live events across the United States, Canada, Australia, Asia, New Zealand, Central America, the United Kingdom, and Europe.

However, with the upheavals at Hillsong Church, starting with scandals involving Carl Lentz and Brian Houston, the church's worship ministry has disintegrated. This has led former leaders like Brooke Ligertwood, Hannah Hobbs, Benjamin Williams Hasting, Ben Fielding, and Reuben Morgan to pursue solo music careers. King is no exception. While he was in career limbo, these 13 songs were birthed. Despite continuing to work with Y&F's Ben Tan and industry scribe Jason Ingram, "Beyond Us" differs from Y&F's output.

For starters, all 13 offerings are decelerated-paced ballads. Fans who are looking for a reprise of high-techno, like "Phenomena (DA-DA)" or "This is Living," will be disappointed. "Beyond Us" features little or no teeny-bob, arguably understandable considering King's turmoil. The best track here is the lead single, "Thank You So Much Jesus," a no-nonsense worship piece executed with palpable sincerity. "What Would It Be Like?" features former colleague Hannah Hobbs and some delightful folkish guitar strums as King wonders about the joy of meeting Jesus face-to-face.

The cinematic Cold Play-esque album opener "Prepare the Way" is not a lousy invitation to worship. Meanwhile, the atmospheric "Made for Worship" is perhaps the most congregational offering here. Also not to be missed is the Laura Daigle-assisted "Time." Featuring a dreamy melody with lots of floating falsettos, "Time" speaks of God's sovereign timing. The rest of the tracks are average ballads, which is also the album's disappointment. One would have hoped King would have brought more energy and variety into a genre now saturated by ballads. 

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