Zach Williams, a Grammy Award winner, has released his third studio album, A Hundred Highways. Hope-filled music with a southern rock sound, Williams’ new collection includes fifteen tracks that speak to the evidence of a changed life because of Jesus. Throughout A Hundred Highways, it is clear that Zach Williams leads the way in the CCM southern rock sound with truer connections to the genre as a whole. A Hundred Highways – like Williams’ previously released studio albums – sticks to a powerful story: the testimony of death to life.
“Big Tent Revival” opens the album with loud guitars, horns and a powerful rhythm. With this album and particularly with this song, Zach Williams tends to stray away from the typical CCM pop sound that flooded his hits such as “Chain Breaker” and “Old Church Choir.” He’s now embracing a more unique southern soul sound that fans have grown to love over the years. One word to describe this song is anthem. Revival seems to be the clear message that weaves its way through every song on A Hundred Highways. “Big Tent Revival” sets the tone for the next fourteen songs on the album.
Track number four, “Heart of God” opens with gentle piano chords and Williams’ powerful vocals. The music builds and swells as the song progresses, however, the true highlight of this song is the message it brings. “There’s only love in God’s heart, no room for shame in his open arms,” Williams sings in the opening lines of the chorus. This song is encouraging and uplifting for new believers and Christians experienced, who can still stray from the right path. Forgiveness is found in the heart of God, and this song contributes beautifully to the theme of the album as a whole.
“Jesus’ Fault” features Internet sensation Walker Hayes, known for his chart-topping song “Fancy Like.” Sung as a duet with Hayes, “Jesus’ Fault” opens with acoustic guitar strums and leads into a waltz-like rhythm, with tales of country songs. The song depicts a new person with a changed life and how the old has gone and the new has come. Williams and Hayes attribute this change to “the fault of Jesus” and the way the Lord’s redemptive power overtook their lives.
“I Got You” is a softer song with a lyricism that makes the listener stop and think. Sung from Jesus’ perspective, this song exhorts us to remember that our lives are in the center of His hands. Lines such as, “There’s nothing you can go through, that I haven’t gone through before,” provide such a simple, yet beautiful, reminder of the Lord’s love.
A Hundred Highways features everything fans know and love about Zach Williams. He presents a soulful southern rock sound with the truth of witnessing from death to life reflected in his lyrics. Williams continues to forge a path that began with Chain Breaker and Rescue Story. However, A Hundred Highways furthers Williams’ expertise in the CCM southern rock genre. The attention of Zach Williams to the theme of the redemptive power of Jesus is clearly not meant to be just for show with catchy and uplifting songs, but it is truly evidence of a changed life in Jesus Christ. Be sure to take A Hundred Highways from Zach Williams and let the songs remind you of the redemption found only in Jesus.
The post office TCB Review: Zach Williams ‘A Hundred Highways’ Features Hope-Filled Music With a Southern Rock Sound appeared first on TCA.
Author: Sarah Baylor