The folks in Citizens - the music arm of Mars Hill Church - hope their song "You Brought Me Back to Life" will resonate with the desire of God's people to celebrate - and even boast in - the resurrection.   

It was a song that almost didn't happen, recalls Citizens' Zach Bolen, as he had been working on a track with different hymn rewrites for some months without any sign of bringing it to a satisfying conclusion.

It was when he showed the track to producer Brian Eichelberger that it bore real fruit with the addition of lyrics based on Romans 6.

The result is "You Brought Me Back to Life", which Bolen says is a "celebratory song" calling for "God's people to
boast in the resurrection of Jesus Christ".

"We felt it important to have a song that not only was great for the church to sing during the baptism of a believer but also a song for the body to sing as a celebration of God's steadfast love and glorious light that he has chosen to shine upon
us as his redeemed people," he said.

The worship ministry is looking to build on the success of debut album, Citizens, released last year.

Another album is in the pipeline for release later this year and Bolen says fans can expect a "slightly different sound".

"Still Citizens, just revamped a little bit," he says, with a good mix of upbeat songs and more contemplative tracks.

Regardless of the album's sound, Citizens remain clear about their calling - to furnish the church with really theologically sound music. That is, music that has the Gospel at the heart.

"All in all, we want each of our albums to serve the local church. We have always had the belief that if we try and make the message submit to the music then we are doing a disservice to the church and consequently watering down the truth," says Bolen.

"The art does not have more value than then the one who created art itself. So our hope is that with this next album you
will hear and find that the music honestly and creatively underscores the beauty of the Gospel."