Hillsong Live: 'Glorious Ruins' Pre-Release Q & A and Performance [Watch Video]

Hillsong United released 'Glorious Ruins' pre-release event footage from the Hillsong Team Night in Sydney, Australia, on June 27. The event included some performance as well as a Q & A with various members of the Hillsong worship team in which they discussed their upcoming project, which will be released on July 2.

Benjamin Fielding, songwriter and worship leader with Hillsong, explained the title track and overarching theme of the new album. "'Glorious Ruins', it's a theme that really kind of capped this project, but more than that I think it's been a theme that has been really kind of a banner over our church for the year and Pastor Brian has been speaking out of Ezra 9, which talks about God bringing the dead things to life, rising up the things that are ruined and making them glorious," he said. "And, I mean, that's the story of the Gospel too, you know, the story that Jesus would see potential, he would see hope, he would see the potential of life in things that were written off, things that were without life."

Another song on the album that has seen a great deal of popularity on the upcoming album is the song 'Man Of Sorrows.' "When we first heard the song, it was at a team night, not unlike this, over in the Chapel and Matt and Brooke sang it for the first time and it blew everybody away. A bunch of us weren't there, we were doing rehearsal somewhere else, something like that, and all we got were text messages like, 'You shoulda... you missed it,'" explained Jadin Gillies, another worship leader with Hillsong. "It tells a story of the horrific pathway to the cross and the horrific kind of circumstances that then led to the resurrection. But the beauty of the song is that there's this final verse, and you guys would all know it, but I love that when we get to sing that final verse as a church, 'See the stone is rolled away, behold the empty tomb.'"

Gillies said that at this particular part of the song he tends to throw his hands up in the air in worship and awe of the majesty of Christ. "I'll be honest, I want maximum involvement, I was maximum kind of response at that moment. I want people to understand that that was not a light a light thing and it's not something to be passed over, that, Hallelujah, God be praised, He is risen from the grave, Come on!" he said.

Annie Garratt, another Hillsong worship leader, says that the song 'Anchor' is her personal favorite to do live because of the impact that it has on both her and the audience. "I remember on the recording night, looking out, and I think it was one of the last songs, and it just felt like they didn't want to stop singing it, and this whole room was filled with tons of people," she said. "And I remember just looking and thinking, this isn't like a crowd, like, this is our church and it's made up of individual people with different situations and stories and they're facing challenges and they're all in different seasons of life and just being so aware that, more than just singing the words to a song, something was actually happening and people were declaring, over their lives, over their situations, that the name of Jesus was higher and the name of Jesus was greater and just feeling like hope was rising."

Other songs on the upcoming album include 'Always Will,' 'You Never Fail,' 'Christ Is Enough,' 'Where the Spirit of The Lord Is,' 'Closer,' 'God Who Saves,' 'To Be Like You,' 'We Glorify Your Name,' 'You Crown The Year,' 'Lift You Higher,' and 'Only You.' The DVD and special forms of the CD also include some additional bonus content.

David Ware, the South West Worship Pastor for Hillsong, said that one thing he loves about the new project is that fact that it is so translatable between different style worship serves. "I think the beauty of this project is that a lot of our songs seem to translate really well just the way they are. And we have heaps of different styles of services, we have our acoustic service out in the chapel and we've got extension services that I only have 100 people, maybe less," he said. "But, what I've experienced across churches is that these songs, because they are truth and because they are songs of declaration, that no matter where u sing them there's always that presence of God, there's always that atmosphere of worship, and when that happens I feel like faith lifts and God gets to do something amazing."

With every new project Hillsong has aimed to grow and develop in order to create something completely fresh and new. "I think that your best is always progressive, so what I bring last year isn't going to be my best this year. So I have to actually find something better for this year. And so, coming into a project, we encourage collaboration, and so all of our musicians will be getting together, all of our keyboard players will be getting together going, 'What are your new sounds, what things are you trying,' and we ask for feedback, we go, 'How can I be getting better, what can i be doing,'" explained Music Director, Autumn Hardman.

In addition, the group aims to constantly stay in prayer and allow God to move them forward in their musical journey. "We pray for inspiration, we pray that we're fresh, we pray that the songs that come don't just sound like last year, but actually keep evolving, because, I don't know about you, but I really need Jesus and I really need the Holy Spirit to help me be fresh," Harman said.

The new project was recorded in Hillsong locations in both Sydney and London. "Our church now is growing. It's an incredible thing to be a part of, it's an incredible thing to actually watch, sometimes you kind of sit back and go, 'This is just, it's unbelievable, literally," Fielding explained. "The church in London, it's just, you know, God's hand is on it and it's growing and our creative team there is thriving, and the same in so many centers in the world. And so, this album is a collection of our creative best."

The team hopes that 'Glorious Ruins,' being influenced by the Gospel message, as well as other Biblical messages, will help spread an understanding of those messages to others. "I believe that what goes in has a great deal of influence into what comes out. If you're sitting under teaching every week, kind of like we are, I would really hope that that is kind of a product of what comes out of us," Gillies said.

Hillsong has written and produced some of the most well-known songs in worship music including, 'Shout To The Lord,' 'Inside Out,' 'Hosanna,' 'The Stand,' 'Mighty To Save,' and 'Cornerstone.' They have released a number of live albums and DVDs in the past, the most recent of which was an album entitled 'Cornerstone,' in 2012. Their upcoming album, 'Glorious Ruins,' will be released on July 2 and is currently available for pre-order.