Review

I admit to not knowing anything about Pablo Perez. It says here that he's a worship leader at IHOP the International House of Prayer located in Kansas City. If you've heard anything about IHOP, you've probably heard about "harp and bowl" worship. Harp and bowl is, in my experience, worship that reaches a high-saturation level. In other words, it is lengthy, intense, soaking, often riffing for long periods of time on a single phrase. So I am surprised by this release. It doesn't fit my paradigm of the IHOP movement. I guess my paradigm needs to change!

So, what is it like, then? Pablo plays keyboard and has a very rich voice. His music reminds me a bit of Robert Stearns. On many of his songs, female vocalists accompany him wonderfully. Perez wrote and arranged 11 songs and co-wrote/arranged the 12th. The songs are meticulously crafted, with layers of instrumentation supporting poetic renderings of Holy Scripture. The liner notes include book, chapter and verse references for each song's Biblical inspiration.

The title track, "Return", is my favorite on the album. It begins with what sounds like wind and middle-eastern tones before Perez sings the call from Jeremiah to return to the Lord, your God, who loves you. This song, according to the notes, was written during a sermon one night and used as an altar call. It is extremely powerful. Many of the songs on this album will challenge the "average" church band in musicianship, but this song is one that needs to be learned. Also, this song cuts off at the very end just as it launches into the jam that I would expect from IHOP. It's just a little foretaste of what it might be like to hear him in a live setting.

While most of the songs have a decidedly "adult contemporary" sound, you can feel free to skip straight to the final two tracks if you want to rock and roll. "Gloria sea al Justo" and "I Will Sing Your Praise" are both incredibly infectious and memorable. Even though I don't know what he's singing on Gloria, it just makes me soar listening to it. And on "Praise" he just locks into a groove that you simply cannot sit down during.

To be fair, the strength of the album is in the first 10 songs, rather than the last two (I just love it when I can dance to a worship song!). Perez combines thoughtful, intelligent lyrics with maturity in arrangement that isn't often seen. While most worship albums these days are guitar driven, this Argentinean man on his keyboard gives us a collection of songs whose genius will probably be revealed a little at a time. My guess is that what Pablo Perez has given us will ultimately be 12 timeless classic songs that serve the Church for years to come.

Review by John Ausmus