The gospel community was recently sent into a frenzy when Israel Houghton announced that Israel and New Breed would be recording a new project in November 2020.Its been 5 years since Alive in Asia and fans clamouring for a new project finally got their wishes granted thanks to Israels wife Adrienne Bailon. God has answered my prayers! Lol. I have convinced my husband to take #WorshipWednesday to the next level! Ha. I have always said that there is NOTHING like Israel and New Breed LIVE! she posted on Instagram. 

 The 3-hour Feels like Home - A Quarantine Worship Experience streamed live from the front room of Adriennes sisters home in New York. The intimate homely setting mirrored Israels #WorshipWednesday setup albeit on a grander scale and with a larger team. Its worth mentioning that the entire team were quarantined and COVID-tested prior to the recording. Hardcore New Breed fans would have noticed some new faces in the group but will attest that the distinct New Breed sound remained untainted.

 Kicking off the evening with spontaneous worship invoked a lingering sweet presence which set the atmosphere for the rest of the night. This led to the opening acapella medley; a creative spin on Lord prepare me, Alpha & Omega and the coda of Richard Smallwoods Total Praise.

 The setlist for the night included fan favourites Moving Forward, In Jesus Name, Reckless love, the nostalgic To worship you I live, plus new material such as Accepted and Hymn of Breakthrough. As with previous Israel and New Breed live recordings, Feels like Home had guest artist features. Recording artist Doe put her unique vocal stamp on In Jesus Name whilst Infinity Song joined New Breed for a heartfelt rendition of Promise Keeper. One of the highlights of the night was Israel breaking into Coritos (Spanish choruses). This quickly turned into a family affair as Adriennes father was passed a microphone to lead the Spanish version of the hymn At the cross. The nostalgia and warmth in the room was virtually palpable.

Worship teams from across the globe were given the opportunity to be part of the experience by submitting footage of themselves covering any Israel and New Breed song. These videos were shown during the brief intermission. We spotted Premier Gospel favourite Tim Godfrey & Xtreme, whose vocal interpretation of Moving Forward was outstanding.

The Amen finale was emphatic and prophetic - the sound of a people aligning themselves with God to see His purposes accomplished through them. Feels like Home - A Quarantine Worship Experience was an incredible event.

After months of preparation and weeks of rehearsals, we cant fault the team for jumping into the swimming pool once the last line had been sung and the final note played.

 Feels like Home - A Quarantine Worship Experience wasa great way to celebrate 20 years of Israel and New Breed. Not only have they been pivotal in transforming modern day praise & worship, but they continue to provide the soundtrack to Sunday worship services across the globe. The great news is that there will be a Volume 2 recorded in LA in the future but for now keep your eyes and ears peeled as Feels like Home - A Quarantine Worship Experience will be on CD, vinyl and available for streaming.

The replay of the concert is available at www.feelslikehomeconcert.com

Premier Gospel Presenter

Akosua Dwomo-Fokuo