Sidney Mohede - The Rescue (2013)

"The Rescue" is Sidney Mohede's first full English-language album set for international release. In his native country Indonesia, Sidney is already widely recognized as one of the most influential worship leaders and Christian songwriters after over two decades of leading worship there. He has written/co-written numerous songs such as "Hosanna (Be Lifted Higher)" with Israel Houghton and also appeared in the global edition of “How Great Is Our God” with Chris Tomlin.

The album title was inspired by a quote by John Stott, "Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues." In Sidney's testimonies as well as in many of his songs, the grace of God forms the central theme. "I am a product of grace, I would not be where I am today if it was not for His rescue. I have been rescued by Grace and this album is a reflection of that divine grace in my life," Sidney explained.

All of the tracks in "The Rescue" reflect this 'scarlet thread' of God's grace. Several songs have been previously recorded in past worship albums and will already be familiar to Indonesian churches, but in “The Rescue” they were recorded anew with updated arrangements. Sidney included songs such as "Amazing", "All Things New" and "I Will Come and I Will Sing" because those tunes still speak to him after all these years. Other tracks include new arrangements of "Open the Sky" and "Jesus, It Is You", songs that were recently covered in JPCC Worship's live worship album, "Favor" (2012).

One of the new songs written for this album, "It Is Done" (co-written with Mia Fieldes and performed as a duet with Darlene Zschech) became the album's first single that was released in March 2013 as a digital download on iTunes. In a historic breakthrough for a Christian song, "It Is Done" held the No.1 position for 10 days on the iTunes Singles Chart in Indonesia, ahead of singles released by mainstream artists such as Michael Buble, Rihanna, Bruno Mars and other Indonesian artists.

Another new song "I Am Loved" was co-written with another brilliant writer, Robin Ghosh, and this tune is also a duet, this time with Barry Southgate, a singer-songwriter based in Australia.

"The Rescue" also includes "Hosanna (Be Lifted Higher)", Sidney's song that is most familiar internationally to date, after it was included in Israel Houghton's (who also co-wrote the song) Grammy Award-winning album "Love God, Love People". A new and beautiful arrangement for this anthem was done by Indonesia's own virtuoso pianist and arranger, Andi Rianto. Furthermore, Israel Houghton also lent his anointed vocals for this latest rendition of "Hosanna (Be Lifted Higher)".

Rounding out the album's track list are Sidney's covers of one of his all-time favorite songs, "In Christ Alone", and also Bob Dylan's beautiful gem, "Make You Feel My Love."





The production of "The Rescue" has been truly international in scope, ranging from co-writers and duet partners from Australia and U.S.A., to the actual recording, mixing and mastering. While Sidney himself recorded the bulk of the tracks in Bali, the guest vocalists did their sessions in Sydney, Australia (Zschech, Southgate) and Houston, U.S.A (Houghton). All the tracks were then sent to Nashville, U.S.A. to be mixed and mastered.

At the core of this global collaboration, Sidney turned to his longtime friend and creative partner, Daniel Sigarlaki, to be this album's co-producer. Daniel is a renowned master guitarist and arranger in his own right, and for more than a decade Sidney and Daniel have written numerous songs and produced many different projects together (ie. Giving My Best (GMB), True Worshippers / JPCC Worship and various solo albums).

References:
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