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SONGS THAT CHANGE THE ROOM WITH CHRIS TOMLIN | Matt McCoy
Chris Tomlin sat down with Matt McCoy to talk about songwriting , worship leading and his new album Always .
COMING BACK TO A SIMPLE PLACE
[ Matt ] Your new album Always is full of worship songs . It ’ s a full circle moment for you . Why now ? Tell us about the album ?
[ Chris ] It ’ s always been on my heart to write songs of worship and I put everything I could into this record . The record started with coming back to this simple place . During COVID when things were shut down , every Sunday would be me and my family , my girls , and we would have home church . It was such a precious time . God put the song “ O Lord You ’ re Beautiful ” by Keith Green on my heart from back in the early days when I felt God put a calling on my life in 8th / 9th grade . So , for over a year I sang this every Sunday with my girls . It was so beautiful to hear them sing it . When I went to make this record Always , I didn ’ t know where the record was going but I wanted to start right there with that song .
SONGS THAT CHANGE THE ROOM
[ Matt ] The song “ Holy Forever ” you wrote with Jason Ingram , Brian and Jenn Johnson and Phil Wickham . It ’ s such a great song .
[ Chris ] Not just because I ’ m a part of this song , but we need more songs like this . Right now , I feel like there are two lanes of songs . Songs of deliverance and songs of transcendence . Songs of deliverance are what we sing mostly . They ’ re easier to write . ‘ Rescue me God . I need your help . I need your grace .’ A lot of what ‘ I ’ need ‘ me , me , me ’. Which I write most songs there , there ’ s nothing wrong with those songs , the Psalms are filled with those songs , “ Amazing Grace ” one of the greatest songs ever written is one of those songs . But then there are these other songs of transcendence . There ’ s nothing about us in the song and it takes us to a place , it takes us to the throne of God . It opens our mind ; it opens our eyes to see . I try to say often worship is more about seeing than it is about singing , and I try to help people see with my songs .
“ Holy Forever ” is a reminder that there is an eternal song . There ’ s an eternal song that never ends . In Revelation it says day and night they never stop saying “ Holy , holy , holy is the Lord God Almighty , who was , and is , and is to come .” That ’ s the song of worship whenever we lead and stand before our congregation , that is what we try to usher in . You can ’ t sing that enough . I think about the songs that I have had that stay … and stay and go way past me , they ’ re usually these songs of transcendence . I would encourage worship leaders to always be putting these songs in front of people . It ’ s amazing how all the things we are going through get reoriented and things start to be healed when we make much of God .
To hear more of the great conversation with Chris about his album and more , click the video below !
Matt McCoy Matt is a worship leader , songwriter and Ableton Certified Trainer from Chicago , IL . He has been using Ableton and tracks in worship since 2002 . He ’ s passionate about creating new products and teaching worship leaders and artists how to use technology in live performance . www . LoopCommunity . com 42 May 2023 Subscribe for Free ...