But anyway… Carlos has been working on an album of original material. While it’s not out yet, he put out a three song EP earlier this year. I bought it from iTunes immediately, of course, and started listening to it right away. The short version of this review: it’s excellent.

The EP opens with “Rain It Down”, an upbeat worship song calling upon God to rain down His healing waters upon us. One of the reviews on iTunes described the sound of this song as U2 being led by Chris Tomlin, and that’s not entirely inaccurate. It’s a great song that really moves, and that should be easily singable by your congregation:
There’s nothing like Your healing water
Pour it out on Your sons and daughters
Our eyes are lifted high
We are here and we are waiting
Flood our hearts ‘til they’re overflowing
Our hands are lifted high

Carlos follows that song with “Jesus Saves”, which features a line that blows me away: “I am the sum of the failing and of grace.” Wow. What a great way to summarize that we are the products of our own personal histories and God’s grace on us. This is another upbeat song with shades of Tomlin and Bono. It, too, features a memorable and simple melody that should lend itself well to congregational worship:
Your innocence has covered my shame
Your love has spoken me by name
And I have victory over the grave
You overcame

The EP ends with “We Will Worship You”, my personal favorite of the bunch. This one is the slowest of the three, but probably the most powerful. I’ve already introduced this song to my congregation, both the Saturday night and Sunday morning crowds. It was a big hit, and I think the credit for that goes to its powerful lyrics. I could write volumes about this song, but instead, I’ll just let the chorus speak for itself:
Save us from these comforts
Break us of our need for the familiar
Spare us any joy that’s not of You
And we will worship You
Yeah, we will worship You

The three songs on the EP are great, and they left me anxious to hear the full album that’s on its way. And as a bonus, Carlos has generously made the chord sheets available on his website in PDF format for free (click here to access them). Carlos Whittaker – EP is available at iTunes and Amazon.

5/5 stars.