SPACE, the latest record by Mack Brock, is a live worship experience. The album is an intimate expression of communion with God, Brock tells American Songwriter.
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The songwriter tracked the project in what Brock calls a “ministry space,” on property in his hometown, Charlotte, North Carolina. It captures a full day of live worship, led by Brock.
There was no typical studio process nor were there common elements of a live album such as an audience. The project simply had a singular goal: to worship together, Brock says.
“I’m a worship leader, and a worship songwriter,” Brock notes. “I didn’t want to just create another studio record – I still wanted to create a live experience.”
While Brock led the songs and the moments of worship in-person, the record also includes worship leaders Matt Maher and Amanda Lindsey Cook, who were able to record parts of the songs and add them to the final project remotely.
‘There is space; space for you to come; come as you are; come as you want,’ the title track denotes.
With Jesus, there is always space, Brock explains, – the heartbeat behind the record.
“You don’t have to fix yourself to be able to come to Jesus, you don’t have to get everything right. All the baggage, all that stuff we carry – whatever in life that’s weighing us down and feels so heavy – Jesus is asking us to just trust Him with it,” Brock says.
Brock explains how he imagined Jesus sitting on a bench and moving over to make space for anyone to sit next to him and to rest for a while. It’s this reality of the heart of Jesus and the way he loves in such a personal manner, allowing people to be exactly who they are and where they are, that drove both the writing for the project and the desire to move forward with releasing it at this time.
This includes allowing space for when life looks different, Brock continues. “As I was digging more into it, I feel like 2020 has been a year of space for us, in our lives. It’s been a year of pausing everything, and all the sudden, we have all this space.”
In this ‘space,’ Brock says he found himself diving deeper into musical collaboration, although done remotely, and a lot of songwriting – leading to this latest album.
“I’m extremely proud of this project,” Brock says. “These songs have just meant a lot to me beyond just being a songwriter. They’ve meant a lot to me as a Christian and a believer as something that gives language to me just talking to Jesus.”
Brock says it can be a bit awkward as a songwriter to admit the words of your own song personally touched you on a deep level, but SPACE definitely is more than just another project.
“There have been several times in this process and with these songs that God has just really spoken to me and I’ve had a really special encounter with him,” Brock continues. “To have a project to work on and even have songs to sing in the middle of this wilderness season has been needed for me and it’s given me joy in what I get to do as a songwriter and musician even in the midst of this chaotic year that feels really scary at times.”
