Prime Cuts: "Jesus Paid It All" (with CeCe Winans), "When I Survey" (with Jenn Johnson), "We Turn Our Eyes" (with Jamie MacDonald)
Overall Grade: 4/5
Tommee Profitt delivers an ambitious, star-studded worship experience with The Resurrection of a King, a 19-track collection that reimagines classic hymns through his signature cinematic lens, bringing together an impressive lineup including CeCe Winans, Jenn Johnson, Phil Wickham, CROWDER and more. On paper, this is the kind of project that should easily earn a perfect score, and at several points it comes very close.
The album is at its best when Profitt's orchestral instincts elevate rather than overwhelm the material. That balance is heard clearly in standout moments like "Jesus Paid It All" featuring Winans, whose commanding vocal grounds the production with both reverence and power, and "When I Survey" with Johnson, which leans into a slow-burning worship atmosphere that feels both intimate and expansive. "We Turn Our Eyes" featuring Jamie MacDonald emerges as one of the album's defining achievements, transforming Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus into a sweeping, cinematic declaration that works equally well in personal reflection and corporate worship.
Elsewhere, the project benefits from its stylistic range. Bay Turner's bright, soaring tenor lifts "It Is Well (Because He Lives)" into a deeply worshipful moment, while Anthony Evans brings a smooth R&B sensibility to "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus," refreshing the familiar without losing its devotional core. Jordan Smith offers a solid take on "My Jesus I Love Thee," and the ethereal reworking of "I'll Fly Away," carried by Fleurie's breathy and controlled vocal, stands out as one of the album's most cohesive and emotionally resonant performances.
However, the album's biggest weakness lies in its tendency toward overproduction, where the cinematic ambition occasionally overshadows the simplicity that gives these hymns their enduring power. "There Is Power" feels overly busy and melodically unfocused, while "The Old Rugged Cross" is so heavily reimagined that it borders on becoming an entirely different song-unfortunately, a less compelling one. In these moments, the production draws attention to itself rather than serving the song.
This push-and-pull between brilliance and excess ultimately defines the listening experience. When restraint is exercised, the results are breathtaking; when the arrangements become too dense or conceptually ambitious, the heart of the hymn can become obscured. Even so, The Resurrection of a King remains a compelling and often moving project that successfully reintroduces timeless truths to a modern audience through a bold, cinematic framework, reaffirming Profitt's place as one of the most innovative producers in the genre today, even if this effort falls just short of its full potential.
