Nashville, TN (November 27, 2018)

With the advent season upon us, worship singer/songwriter Jessica Sirls, has released a modern take on a traditional hymn with a timeless message: God is with us. “Hallelujah (Emmanuel)” draws from Fanny Crosby‘s book of writings, written into music by Nashville-based producer/composer John Hartley (Matt Redman, Michael Neale, Leigh Nash), along with Sirls and Greenville, SC worship pastor Zachary Loomis.

While traditional hymns might be considered a rarity in postmodern worship music, “Hallelujah (Emmanuel)” is a reminder of God’s unchanging relevance. After meeting in Nashville, TN, Hartley, Sirls, and Loomis, collaborated to help bring this timeless message of the gospel to life in song.

“I hope this song will be a way for people to connect with the greatest message of all time in a new way. God is with us: this good news is just as relevant as it was before and will be a thousand years from now.”  —Jessica Sirls

Although there have been a multitude of hymn books and recordings of Fanny Crosby’s songs, over 2,000 of her unpublished works sat in the vaults of Wheaton College; those works have now been made available to a select gathering of key worship songwriters, who are creating a new collection of hymns from the Fanny Crosby catalogue.
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Along with “Hallelujah (Emmanuel),” new hymns have been crafted by other artists/songwriters like Krissy Nordhoff, Stu G, Jon Egan, All Sons & Daughters, Michael Farren and countless others; this is the first time these particular lyrics, Fanny’s original poetry, have been crafted into a modern worship song.
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A storyteller since childhood, Jessica Sirls began writing songs professionally in 2016, after sensing a call from God to leave her job in journalism to pursue a music career. She began to sense this calling after her first song, “Rest In You,” was placed in “The Reason,” a film inspired by a book written by her uncle, who is a Christian author; doors continued to open as Jessica became Music Director for the film, soon crossing paths with John Hartley, the producer behind “Hallelujah (Emmanuel),” in Nashville, TN.

“Hallelujah (Emmanuel)” also features musicians who have been a part of some of the most well-known bands in Christian music including Matt Gilder (Programming and Keys – Chris Tomlin), Mike Payne (Guitars – Lauren Daigle, Michael W. Smith, Francesca Battistelli, Casting Crowns), Christian Paschall (Drums – Maren Morris, Chris Tomlin, Alicia Keys, Amos Lee) and Matthew Melton (Bass – Chris Tomlin, Rend Collective, David Crowder).

 

Listen to “Hallelujah (Emmanuel)” here:

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