Hi I’m Luke Wareham, I am based in Bristol in the UK and work as a youth worker for Bristol City Council helping young people with their mental wellbeing. Alongside that, I lead worship in my local church, I love songwriting and encouraging others to be creative.
I have a new EP coming out in August titled Pure Heart, which I cannot wait for everyone to hear. I’ve also got a busy summer ahead where I will be leading worship at various Christian festivals, which I cannot wait for.
Making the new EP Pure Heart has been great fun and I cannot wait for everyone to hear the songs. I have been writing these songs over the past year and I saved up to get the songs produced and had some really kind people support me in recording the songs.
I love to write songs straight from reading the Bible and often feel most inspired by worshipping on my own at home. I went up to Manchester to get the songs produced by the amazing Dan Stilring and then they got mastered by Tim Gosden.
My hope 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.
The EP features collaborations with some of my songwriting and worship leader friends and people I really look up too and admire 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 project.
It was really cool to collaborate with Michelle Lutz who is based in America and it was fun to record virtually from another country – Dan did a great job getting the song together! “Pure Heart” is my first song recorded across seas!
Having these collaborations and the fact they all bring their own ‘vibe’ to the EP is what I strived for when recording this new EP. I love unity in worship music and the church, and us all bringing our own praise and worship to God.
I am really excited about all the songs but I am particularly excited about “Come Home”, which 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, who 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. I am excited about the song as it was written as I was reading the Bible and it spoke into my everyday life situations.
For me, three things make a really uplifting worship anthem and this is what makes up my songwriting process and helps me in my creativity. This includes that (1) ultimately the song helps people to encounter Jesus and fix their eyes on Jesus, (2) a song that is Biblically focused – I love using the Bible in my worship writing, and (3) the song is easy to sing to and lift our praises too.
John Ortberg says “I need to worship because without it, I lose a sense of wonder and gratitude and plod through life with blinders on“, and this sums up my passion for writing these new songs.
My prayer is that these songs will bring truth and hope to a world that needs it, and speak directly into people’s daily live situations. Many of the songs were written out of times of corporate and personal worship and from my personal journey over the past few years.
Listen to the Pure Heart EP below and stream + download it everywhere else here.
