# Old Church Basement

Old Church Basement is a collaborative live album by American contemporary worship groups Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music. It was released on April 30, 2021, via Sony Music Nashville through their imprints Elevation Worship Records and Provident Label Group. The featured worship leaders on the album are Dante Bowe, Chandler Moore, Naomi Raine, Brandon Lake, Joe L. Barnes, Tiffany Hudson, Chris Brown, and Amanda Lindsey Cook. The album was produced by Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, Jason Ingram, Tony Brown, and Jonathan Jay.
Old Church Basement is supported by "Jireh", "Talking to Jesus", and "Wait on You", which were released as promotional singles. "Jireh" debuted at No. 10 on the US Hot Christian Songs chart and atop the Hot Gospel Songs chart. "Talking to Jesus" debuted at No. 9 on the Hot Christian Songs chart and atop the Hot Gospel Songs chart. "Wait on You" also debuted at No. 9 on the Hot Christian Songs chart and atop the Hot Gospel Songs chart.
Old Church Basement became a commercially successful album upon its release, debuting at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums Chart and Top Gospel Albums Chart in the United States, and at No. 2 on the Official Charts' Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart in the United Kingdom, concurrently attaining top 100 mainstream chart entries in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The album was ranked by Billboard as the second biggest gospel album in 2021, and in 2022. Old Church Basement won the Dove Award for Worship Album of the Year at the 52nd Dove Awards in 2021. At the 2022 Grammy Awards, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album, with "Jireh" being nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song and "Wait on You" also getting nominated for Best Gospel Performance/Song. At the 2022 Billboard Music Awards, it was also nominated for the Billboard Music Award for Top Christian Album and Top Gospel Album, while "Jireh" got nominated for Billboard Music Award for Top Christian Song.

## Release and promotion

On March 26, 2021, Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music announced their first collaborative album, titled Old Church Basement, will be slated for release on April 30, 2021, concurrently availing the album for digital pre-order. That same day, they released "Jireh" featuring Chandler Moore and Naomi Raine, as the first promotional single from the album, along with its accompanying music video. "Jireh" debuted at No. 10 on the US Hot Christian Songs chart, and No. 1 on the Hot Gospel Songs chart.
On April 9, 2021, Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music released "Talking to Jesus" featuring Brandon Lake as the second promotional single from the album. "Talking to Jesus" debuted at No. 9 on the US Hot Christian Songs chart, and No. 1 on the Hot Gospel Songs chart.
On April 23, 2021, Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music released "Wait on You" featuring Dante Bowe and Chandler Moore as the third and final promotional single from the album, along with its accompanying music video. "Wait on You" debuted at No. 9 on the US Hot Christian Songs chart, and No. 1 on the Hot Gospel Songs chart.
Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music released the album on April 30, 2021, also availing the music video for the song "Build Your Church" which features Naomi Raine and Chris Brown, on YouTube.

## Reception
### Critical response

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| 365 Days of Inspiring Media | 4.5/5 |
| JubileeCast | 4.25/5 |
| One Man In The Middle | |
Joshua Andre in his 365 Days of Inspiring Media review, described the album as being more cohesive than Elevation Worship's previous releases such as Graves into Gardens and Hallelujah Here Below, declaring that "Old Church Basement stands tall amongst quite a lot of worship albums from this year- both Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music deserve to be congratulated, and to be proud of themselves." Timothy Yap, reviewing for JubileeCast, gave a favourable review of the album, saying: "Old Church Basement, as the title suggests, isn't an exercise of glamor and applause. Rather, it's worship music that is personal, biblical, and heartfelt." Yap noted however, that the track length of the songs and them being mostly ballads were the major weaknesses of the record, opining that the listening experience "can be on the taxing and tedious side." Kayleigh Fongers gave a favourable review of the album for The Banner, saying "So what's the secret to the album's success? It's safe to say that the answer lies in its refreshing simplicity. The style is intimate, and most of the songs draw on transparent biblical truths. It's an unfiltered and personal worship experience." Rob Allwright, reviewing for One Man In The Middle, opined "There are many positive points for this album. The early songs are very catch, you will not forget the choruses and bridges easily, they will stick with you for some time to come. There are a range of different voices on the project who all bring a great vocal and a touch of variety and diversity which is always welcome. There are a variety of songwriters, although Steven Furtick's influence is very apparent on many of the tracks."

### Accolades

Awards :
| Year | Organization | Award | Result |
| 2021 | GMA Dove Awards | Worship Album of the Year | Won |
| 2022 | Billboard Music Awards | Top Christian Album | Nominated |
| 2022 | Billboard Music Awards | Top Gospel Album | Nominated |
| 2022 | Grammy Awards | Best Contemporary Christian Music Album | Won |
Year-end lists :
| Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
| JubileeCast | Best Christian Albums of 2021 | 10 | |
| Louder Than The Music | LTTM Album Awards 2021 | 5 | |

## Commercial performance

In the United States, Old Church Basement earned 19,000 equivalent album units in its first week of sales, and as a result debuted at No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums Chart and the Top Gospel Albums Chart dated May 15, 2021, becoming the first album to simultaneously debut atop both religious charts since the release of Kanye West's album Jesus Is King (2019). Old Church Basement is Elevation Worship's sixth No. 1 entry and Maverick City Music's first No. 1 entry on the Top Christian Albums Chart, while being Elevation Worship's first No. 1 entry and Maverick City Music's second No. 1 entry on the Top Gospel Albums Chart. The album concurrently registered on the mainstream Billboard 200 chart at No. 30. Old Church Basement debuted on the OCC's Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart at No. 2.
Old Church Basement also appeared at No. 51 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, No. 78 on the Canadian Albums Chart, No. 35 on Official New Zealand Music Chart, and No. 93 on the Swiss Hitparade.

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| United States (RIAA) | Gold | 500,000$^‡$ |
| $^‡$ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |||

## Release history

Release history for Old Church Basement :
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
| Various | April 30, 2021 | Digital downloadstreaming | Elevation Worship Records | |
| Various | June 11, 2021 | CD | Provident Label Group | |