What would happen if we began to believe that God could do the miraculous through us? Can you imagine what might happen? These are the questions GRAMMY® Award-winning collective Elevation Worship asks on their anticipated 15th career project, CAN YOU IMAGINE?

“We want someone to listen to this album and know that God is still writing their story,” Elevation Worship Worship Leader and songwriter Chris Brown explains. We asked Chris about the writing and recording process of CAN YOU IMAGINE? and he shared how a lot of it was in-the-moment, and most importantly, God-driven.

**We’re excited CAN YOU IMAGINE? is out in the world! The album opens with the joyful song “Jehovah,” and we love how the bridge lists Nissi, Jireh, Rapha, and Shalom.**

What led you all to write a song around the different attributes of Jehovah from the Old Testament?

Well, we didn’t start with that end in mind. That day we had been trying to write another song but kept hitting a block. And as it often goes when that happens, we eventually carried a piece of that idea and slipped into another stream where we found excitement around the line “He goes by the Name of Jehovah” to anchor a verse.

And that was the spark that was needed to set the rest of the song in motion.

As that piano hook started to find its way into the room along with the musical vibe, out came “Jehovah Nissi fight your battles.” And then the other names of God followed. And as we looked at having this song centered around ‘Jehovah,’ that led to the chorus simply starting with the line: “Call the Name…”

“More Than Able” was the first single released from this new project. Can you tell us why you all decided to lead with this single?

I think this song has marked this current season we’ve been in as a church. Pastor Steven has preached around the theme of the song, and not giving up hope for all that God has in front of us. Plus, we really really really like it haha.

“Make A Way” feels like a standout. Tell us more about this song and about bringing in Chandler Moore and Brandon Lake to be a part of the record as a whole.

When we recorded in January, we started that week with only a few songs we felt great about. I’m so grateful for the relationships God’s given us with different writers and worship leaders.

So that Monday we asked Chandler, Brandon, along with Pat and Cody to come to Charlotte to see if any more songs might surface for us to record on Friday. God was gracious, the flow was good, and “Make A Way” was written that Tuesday (along with “Praise” and “Been So Good”). On Wednesday and Thursday we got our amazing musicians around these new songs, and sang them with our church for the first time at the recording.

Some folks from our team got to be there for the live recording and mentioned that having extensive, live percussion was a new element.

Can you tell us about how that impacted the recording process? They also mentioned there were more musicians on stage in general than normal. What role did tracks play in the live recording this time, if any?

The long answer is that when we were recording some of the songs for LION, I asked Dom Geralds to add percussion and vibe to “Bye Bye Babylon” and a couple more songs.

Then last year we recorded a B side project called LION: Live From The Loft that Dom’s instincts on percussive sounds and rhythms added a ton to. So when “Jehovah” was written and we decided to record “Runnin,” I knew how instrumental it could be to have those songs approached with additional drums so there was no constriction to what we wanted to create rhythmically for them. So, Dom joined us for all the songs and he and Vinny (Baynard) worked hand in hand to bring the songs to life in new ways.

It was also a lot of fun having that big of a rhythm section when we added “Praise” a couple days before the recording, since it wound up being very drum-driven. And since a lot of the song production was taking shape right up until we recorded, we didn’t use any tracks that evening. We did ask Joel Kelly to add some strings in post for a few songs that turned out beautiful!

Were there any surprises/unexpected moments from the night of recording? Were there any songs y’all were unsure of how they would land going into it?

I spoke to some of this earlier, but honestly, a lot of the night was a surprise. We had only really led “More Than Able” in church before the recording. I believe “Trust In God” and “Jehovah” may have been introduced once or twice.

But that week of the recording was wild because songs were still being written, parts and hooks were still being created up until a few hours before the doors opened for the night of worship.

We decided late Thursday night to add “Been So Good” and tried it for the first time Friday morning. “Praise” was still being written around 4pm that day haha!

By the time we started, our team knew what the core map and arrangement of the songs were, but left plenty of room and space for them to take shape in the room that night.

CAN YOU IMAGINE? overall has a very different feel from LION, with these songs being more congregational. The theme of encouragement, comfort and expectancy throughout this record is really felt in every song.

Can you speak more to this shift in theme and perspective?

I love hearing what you took away from the songs and how an album is speaking to you! Truth is, there wasn’t an intentional shift we took from LION.

One of the benchmarks for us in approaching a song, whether in a writing session or later in producing the album, is that we would remain presently focused on what we feel God wants to give us as it’s being created.

We didn’t set out with a vision or goal to try and record anything different from LION, in the same way the songs on LION weren’t an intentional departure from Old Church Basement, but rather a collection of songs that were honest to that season. I can’t speak for how congregational these songs may or may not be, but they've certainly been ones I’ve looked forward to putting in the setlist for Sundays at Elevation.

Elevation Worship

We’re excited CAN YOU IMAGINE? is out in the world! The album opens with the joyful song “Jehovah,” and we love how the bridge lists Nissi, Jireh, Rapha, and Shalom.