Music
8 gospel house tracks that’ll make you believe
Well, they do say that God is a DJ.
House has always been a spiritual thing. The godfather of house music, Frankie Knuckles, once sermonised that clubs are “like Church... by the time the preacher gets going, the whole room becomes one”. It’s a spirit still holds true in clubs across the world, DJs on a musical mission to spread faith through tunes.
Around the late ‘80s, when house began to splinter into subgenres like acid house or deep house, artists began to tap into this sense of spiritual power. Gospel house was a religion founded on beatific beats and soulful vocals, mixing Knuckles' vision of Church with the sounds of old Christian records. A euphoric sound, it swaps more traditional psychedelic elements for religious ecstasy built on omnipotent organ hooks and spine-tingling vocals.
In recent times, gospel sounds have been prominent in rap, cropping up in music by Chance The Rapper and Kanye West. But gospel house still has enduring appeal. One of last year's biggest tunes, Karizma's Work It Out, sampled gospel stomper Jesus Can Work It Out to exultant effect. Regardless of your spiritual inclination – or lack of – it's hard not to be swept up in gospel house's sheer sense of conviction. Here are eight classics of the form.
1. Joe Smooth – Promised Land (1989)
It may be a bit more 'soulful' than 'gospel' but it's worth including for the fact that a) it's more spiritually charged than a 1980s televangelist's phone line and b) it's a certified banger. Born out of a desire to mix Motown with the emerging house sound, it's still as uplifting almost 30 years on, sent "from the angels above" (and the catalogue of Chicago's DJ International Records).
2. Robin S – I Want To Thank You (Morales Mix) (1993)
A whole lot of love has been shown to Show You Love, but I Want To Thank You is the real Robin S masterpiece. David Morales' mix opens with nothing but soaring vocals and bassy undertones, before swinging into action with pumping organ hooks and some proper RSI-inducing piano stabs.
3. Barbara Tucker – I Get Lifted (Take Me To Church Mix) (1994)
If you thought the last tune's intro was epic, try this one out for size. Featuring a build-up of Biblical proportions, the titular mantra is finally broken by a bassline big enough to feed a club of 5000. Yeezus worshippers will recognise it as being sampled in Kanye's Fade, which also samples house hero Mr. Fingers' Mystery Of Love. Fingers and Knuckles, eh, you've got to hand it to them (groan).
4. Backroom Congregation – Sunday Morning (WMC 98 Mix) (1998)
This tune seriously got slept on. Like a gazillion other house tunes from the '90s it came from Italia, and sees a cute little breakdown at the start ("Can we talk about this my sisters?") give way to orgiastic organs and ecstatic vocals. Never has waking up on a Sunday felt so damn good (aside from Bank Holiday weekends, obvs).
5. Underground Ministries ft Kenny Bobien – I Shall Not Be Moved (1999)
Featuring some stunning vocals from Kenny Bobien, who also worked with Kerri Chandler and Masters At Work, I Shall Not Be Moved is as good as gospel house gets. Exorcise any bad vibes you have locked away and exercise your best dance moves.
6. Terrence Parker – Nothing Will Separate Me From the Love of God (2002)
"When I play music for people, I want the bad feelings to leave from the hearts and minds of the people to be replaced with feelings of joy," Terrence Parker told an interviewer last year. If that isn't something to believe in, then who knows what is? Sure, this tune may not have the snappiest of titles, but it's packed full of Parker's iconic organ sounds and raw gospel vocals.
7. Floorplan – We Magnify His Name (2011)
The funky, gospel-themed side-project from Underground Resistance founder and all-round Detroit legend Robert Hood, in 2011 Floorplan released this absolute belter, stuffed with rousing vocals and a backing meatier than the smell of a slaughterhouse. Echoing Knuckles' original sentiment, Hood sees himself as a "pulpit" behind the turntables, preaching "a message of love". In 2016, Floorplan expanded to a duo, Hood joined by his daughter Lyric.
8. Karizma – Work It Out (2017)
This one's been slaying dancefloors since the moment Karizma dropped it on the Dutch label Lumberjacks In Hell, and if you've been out pretty much anywhere in the last year you will have heard it. Even the biggest Richard Dawkins fanboy will feel something deep and powerful within them as this track drops – although that might just be the punchy sub-bass running throughout.
Now watch an RBMA lecture with Robert Hood.
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