Interview: Luke Wareham
UK worship leader and songwriter Luke Wareham is back with a new single 'Come Home'. Louder Than The Music chatted to Luke about this new song, plus his forthcoming EP which features a whole host of well known collaborators. Read on to find out more!
You've just released a new single titled 'Come Home', tell us a bit about the inspiration behind this song?
Come Home is a song for those seeking a fresh encounter with God and a call for the prodigals to come home. The song came about as I was reading and reflecting on the story of the prodigal son in the Bible whilst songwriting with my wife Katie and friend Matt Caddick. I was inspired by Psalm 55 and Matthew 11 which describe a loving God who is kind, will never leave us and is willing to take on our burdens just like the Father does in the prodigal son story. He doesn't turn him away, he calls for him to come home and desires to take care of his child’.
It's great to see you link up with Marc James on this one - what does he bring to the track?
Marc is an absolute legend and I really appreciate him featuring on the song. We first met when we were on an songwriting retreat and whilst at David’s Tent. Marc brings so much to the song I love his passion and heart to see people encounter Jesus. He has written one of my favourite ever worship songs ‘Surrender’ which we use regularly at church.
This is the first single from your forthcoming EP - can you tell us a little about that?
The new five song EP is called ‘Pure Heart’. I went up to Manchester to get the songs produced by the amazing Dan Stirling and then they got mastered by Tim Gosden. My prayer in releasing the songs is that the songs would help people to have life changing encounters with Jesus, that connect them to the heart of God for their life and that the songs will speak into everyday life situations. Ultimately my hope is that the songs will draw people to Jesus.
The list of collaborators on this EP is really impressive - who have you got appearing on these tracks?
The EP features collaborations with some of my songwriting and worship leader friends and people I really look up too including:- Chris Sayburn, Donna Akodu, Lou Fellingham, Marc James and Michelle Lutz. They all bring so much to the songs and it is such a privilege to have them as part of the EP.
Have you made a conscious effort to collaborate with more artists on this release?
Yes our hope when writing and producing the songs was that the EP would help a wide range of people encounter Jesus and by having these collaborations they all bring their own ‘vibe’ to the EP and I love unity in worship music and the church and us all bringing our own praise and worship to God.
I know it's always hard to pick a favourite, but which track on this EP are you most excited about?
I am really excited about all the songs but I am excited about the title song to the EP ‘Pure Heart’ that I wrote with my friend Matt Caddick and that features Michelle Lutz. It is the first song I have recorded from across seas as Michelle is based in America! The song was written as we came out of the Covid 19 pandemic and the difficult world we are living in right now and the need to surrender our lives to Jesus.
What message are you hoping people will take from listening to these songs?
Ultimately my hope is that the songs will draw people to Jesus and that they would speak into people’s everyday life situations.
As a worship leader yourself, which of these new songs would you say are best for other worship groups to pick up and use in their own churches?
I wrote all of the songs on this EP with congregational worship in mind and I have already used ‘Come Home’, ‘Pure Heart’ and ‘Honour You Lord’ at my local church. But I am really excited to be using ‘Jesus is Holy’ at New Wine as I lead worship in the Luminosity youth venue this year. The chords and lyrics are available to download via CCLI (Songselect).
In your opinion, what elements make up a really uplifting worship anthem?
For me three things:-
1. Ultimately the song helps people to encounter Jesus and to fix their eyes on Jesus.
2. A song that is Biblically focussed - I love using the Bible in my worship writing
3. The song is easy to sing to and lift our praises too.
What's next for you after this EP is released?
I’ve got a busy summer where I will be leading worship at various Christian festivals which I cannot wait for. I also have a new song that will be coming out towards the end of the year ‘Therefore I Know’ with Sara Teibo and Rachel Mason and I will be doing an EP launch worship night!
