Grammy award winner Zach Williams has released his third studio album, A Hundred Highways. Hope filled music, with a southern rock sound, Williams’ new collection features fifteen tracks that speak of the evidence of a life changed because of Jesus. Through A Hundred Highways it’s clear that Zach Williams is leading the way in the southern rock CCM sound with truer ties to the genre as a whole. A Hundred Highways – in true fashion with Williams’ previously released studio albums – sticks to a powerful story: the testimony of death to life.
“Big Tent Revival” opens the album with loud guitars, brass instruments, and a strong beat. With this album and particularly with this song, Zach Williams tends to stray from the typical CCM pop sound that inundated his hits such as “Chain Breaker” and “Old Church Choir.” He now adopts a more unique soulful southern sound that fans have learned to love over the years. One word to describe this song is anthemic. Revival seems to be the clear message that weaves its way through each song on A Hundred Highways. “Big Tent Revival” sets the tone for the following fourteen songs on the album.
Track number four, “Heart of God” opens with soft piano chords and Williams’ strong vocals. The music builds and swells as the song progresses, however, the true highlight of this song is the message that it brings. “There’s only love in the heart of God, no room for shame in His open arms,” sings Williams in the opening lines of the chorus. This song is encouraging and uplifting to both newer believers and seasoned Christians, who still may stray from the straight and narrow. Forgiveness can be found in the heart of God, and this song contributes beautifully to the theme of the album as a whole.
“Jesus’ Fault” features internet sensation Walker Hayes, known for his chart-topping song “Fancy Like”. Sung as a duet with Hayes, “Jesus’ Fault”, opens with acoustic guitar strums and leads into a waltz-like flow, featuring country-song storytelling. The song depicts a new person with a changed life and how the old has gone and the new has come. Williams and Hayes attribute this change to be “Jesus’ fault” and how the Lord’s redemptive power has overtaken their life.
“I Got You” is a softer song with lyricism that makes the listener stop and think. As sung from the point of view of Jesus, this song urges us to remember that our life is in the center of His hands. Lines such as “There’s nothing you could walk through, that I haven’t walked before,” provide such a simple, yet beautiful reminder of the love of the Lord.
A Hundred Highways showcases everything that fans know and love about Zach Williams. It features a southern, soulful rock sound with the truth of the death to life testimony that is reflected in its lyrics. Williams is continuing to forge a pathway that started with Chain Breaker and Rescue Story. However, A Hundred Highways solidifies Williams’ expertise in the southern rock CCM genre. Zach Williams’ attention to the theme of the redemptive power of Jesus clearly isn’t meant just for show with catchy, uplifting songs, but it’s truly the evidence of a life changed in Jesus Christ. Be sure to pick up A Hundred Highways by Zach Williams and let the songs remind you of the redemption found only in Jesus.
