One of local gospel music’s success stories, Israel Mosehla ( pictured) is back with another classic album. Titled Worthy of My Praise, Mosehla had been meaning to make the album for the longest time.
“Unlike the works I have done before, this project is more praise than worship,” said Mosehla.
His previous album, called Turning Point, was released in 2012 and as with that offering, Worthy of My Praise was recorded live in front of a congregation.
“Whenever I record live, I become at ease with the people. I am calmer and connect with those who I am singing for. It is good… to interact with the audience as I get to see how well they connect with the music.
“Of course, there is some post- production studio work that we get to do afterwards to clean it up other-wise the bulk of it is all live,” he said.
While gospel artists are often inspired by the Bible, Mosehla uses his own experiences to pen inspirational songs.
“I wrote most of the songs on this album. I have added my personal experiences to most of them because I would like to share my life with my fans. Songs like Speak to Me and Arise Africa are from specific incidents that happened in my life and they directly inspired me to sit down and write something,” he said.
Although confident in his songwriting ability, Mosehla left room for others to pen something for him on Worthy of My Praise.
“I also worked with Sizwe Zako and the American composer, Andrew Lewis. It seemed to have been a great idea because everyone feels that it is a different sound from what I have done before and that’s encouraging,” said Mosehla.
Being a nominee and winner at the Crown Gospel Awards, Mosehla is most probably going to get another nod because of his innovative ideas.
“The one thing I learnt about gospel artists is that they do not want recycled music.
“We artists are always accused of doing old songs over and over again so I got tired of that and decided to go with something fresh, which is what you will get on Worthy of My Praise,” he explained.
When he is not making music, Mosehla holds praise and worship workshops which train young people in how to conduct Christian music for the church or commercially.
This album has created an opportunity for the artist to go on an international tour to the US, Germany and Reunion Island.
“We are still setting aside dates for the local tour which I plan to be a national affair so my supporters should look out for information close to them,” Mosehla said.
• Worthy of My Praise is available at music stores.