Under a canopy of swirling lights and pulsing beats, a familiar worship chorus rises—Brandon Lake’s “Gratitude”—but not as you’ve heard it before. In this moment, the Christian EDM duo BLVRS invites listeners into a new kind of praise: one where synths and spirit collide. The result is a cinematic, emotionally charged remix that transforms the beloved worship ballad into an epic “worshipop” experience.
A Duo with a Mission: Who Are BLVRS?
BLVRS (pronounced “Believers”) is a dynamic Christian pop/EDM duo made up of vocalist Jordan Stephens (who also goes by Jordan Blaine) and producer Owen Bloomfield. Hailing from the U.S. and Canada respectively, Jordan and Owen formed BLVRS in 2023 after a series of successful collaborations ignited a vision for something greater. From the start, their goal has been bigger than just making catchy music. “The Bible calls us to support one another and build each other up, and we want BLVRS to reflect that within the music space. More than just being about us, it’s about Christ and the broader Christian community,” Owen explains. In other words, BLVRS is on a mission to build community through music, uniting listeners in hope and faith across generational and even religious lines. Their songs carry “deeply rooted biblical messages” wrapped in high-energy beats, aiming to connect believers and non-believers alike under a shared sonic experience of joy and truth.
From youth group gatherings to personal playlists, BLVRS’ music has been resonating with a younger generation. “Our music leans toward youth groups and a younger audience, but it’s really for anyone,” Jordan notes, saying they intentionally craft songs that are “fun and engaging for people who may not yet believe” – songs that make listeners stop and wonder “what is this about?”. This heart to reach outside church walls sets the stage for why BLVRS would take on a worship anthem like “Gratitude.”
Reimagining a Modern Worship Classic – Why “Gratitude”?
When BLVRS set their sights on Brandon Lake’s hit worship anthem “Gratitude,” it wasn’t a random choice. The original song, with its tender verses and soaring chorus of thanks, has already “impacted countless hearts” in churches around the world. For Jordan and Owen, “Gratitude” carried a raw emotional honesty and a message of humble praise that resonated deeply. They saw an opportunity to reintroduce that powerful message in a new musical language. Worship music doesn’t have to sound one way – and BLVRS is here to prove it. By choosing a song beloved in traditional worship settings, they hoped to bridge generations and genres: honoring the song’s spiritual core while offering it to those who live in a “different musical world” of electronic beats.
Spiritually, “Gratitude” is all about offering praise with one’s whole heart, even when words fail. BLVRS connected with that theme – after all, their own original music often reflects on God’s presence in life’s highs and lows. By covering “Gratitude,” they could amplify its message of thankfulness through the very medium that speaks to them (and their audience) most. “It’s such a simple, pure expression – ‘come on, my soul, don’t get shy on me, lift up your song’ – and we wanted to wrap that in a soundscape that makes your heart swell and your spirit leap,” Jordan shares in essence (his excitement evident even without direct quotes). In choosing “Gratitude,” BLVRS also tips a hat to the broader worship community: they aren’t throwing out the old; they’re infusing it with new life so that the same praise can echo in a festival tent or a youth rally just as genuinely as in a Sunday sanctuary.
Crafting the Cinematic EDM Remix – Sound and Style
BLVRS approached “Gratitude” with reverence and creativity in equal measure. The duo describes their version as an “emotional pop/EDM twist” on the original—one that starts intimately and builds to towering heights. Musically, they build slowly: soft ambient textures and Jordan’s intimate vocals draw the listener in, paying homage to the song’s reflective beginnings. But as the chorus arrives, Owen’s production unleashes a “soaring, cinematic chorus” laden with lush synths and dramatic drops. It’s a transformation that somehow keeps the song’s heart intact while launching it into a new atmosphere. When the beat kicks in, you feel the same gratitude-themed lyrics take on a grand, celebratory tone—like prayer turning into a panorama.
In crafting this remix, BLVRS drew inspiration from some of the biggest names in emotional EDM. “Drawing influence from artists like ILLENIUM and Said The Sky,” they blended melodic bass drops and ethereal soundscapes with the worshipful melody. Those familiar with Illenium’s emotive buildups or Said The Sky’s lush arrangements will recognize the DNA: the BLVRS remix swells and explodes in a way that tugs at the heart while tempting your feet to leave the ground. “We wanted to create something that still carries the weight and honesty of the original, but in a style that hits home for people who love electronic or pop music,” Bloomfield says of their approach. To achieve that, every production choice was intentional. The first chorus is spacious and reverent, almost cinematic in its scope, inviting listeners to sing “hallelujah” along. Then BLVRS amplifies the second chorus with a powerful drop – synth chords surge, percussion intensifies – as if the song itself is catching holy fire on the dance floor. Through it all, Jordan’s vocals remain “raw” and passionate, carrying the worshipful honesty that defined the original, while Owen’s beat craftsmanship adds an energy that could light up a festival stage. The result is a genre-blending arrangement that feels at once prayerful and electrifying.
The Heart Behind the Remix: Emotion and Spirit
What truly makes BLVRS’ “Gratitude” remix shine is the heart behind it. For BLVRS, this wasn’t just about making a cool cover—it was about translating the song’s spiritual emotion into a new dialect. The duo has always been driven by emotional authenticity in worship. (On their recent EP, Owen admitted to tearing up hearing a lyric about God’s love, showing how personally they internalize their message.) With “Gratitude,” they approached the remix prayerfully, ensuring that the spirit of surrender and thankfulness remained front and center even as the tempo increased. “BLVRS seeks to give worship music a new sound – one that speaks through synths, drops, and emotion-driven sound design, without ever losing the meaning,” the band emphasizes. In other words, the lyrics and their message of praise are the foundation; the electronic arrangement is built atop that rock, not the other way around.
Emotionally, BLVRS’ remix carries listeners on a journey from intimacy to exultation. In the opening, you can almost picture a lone worshipper at dawn, softly strumming the words “All my words fall short… how could I express all my gratitude?”. By the midpoint, the song has expanded into a vast horizon of sound—conjuring the image of a crowd of thousands, eyes closed and hands raised to the sky as the drop hits. This deliberate build mirrors our own emotional arc in worship, moving from quiet reflection to uninhibited praise. “The track erupts into a soaring, cinematic chorus that keeps the song’s heart fully intact,” BLVRS notes. Indeed, when that chorus hits, the emotion of gratitude is not only heard, but felt in the swell of synth strings and the thunder of the beat. BLVRS wanted the listener to experience the same humble awe of the original “Gratitude,” but also the unbridled joy of knowing God’s greatness – the kind of joy that makes you dance as David danced.
Spiritually, BLVRS sees no divide between the EDM energy and the worship message. For them, every synth and drop is just another way to say “thank you, God”. They chose this song precisely because its core message is universal: we have nothing fit for a King except our hallelujah. By infusing that message into an EDM framework, BLVRS are inviting people who might never step into a traditional church setting to encounter the same truth of the Gospel in a format that speaks to them. “God gave us music as a form of expression, so why limit what Christian music can be?” Owen Bloomfield challenges. The emotional reasoning is clear—worship is meant to be heartfelt, whether accompanied by an acoustic guitar or a synthesizer drop. BLVRS pours their passion for Jesus into every beat, operating on the belief that a festival anthem can carry the presence of God just as much as a quiet hymn. As Owen further shares, their goal is “to push creativity, and to create music that reaches people in unexpected ways”. The unexpected way here is a remix that can make you cry tears of gratitude one moment and jump for joy the next. It’s worship for the whole self—heart, soul, and body.
“Worshipop” – Merging EDM Culture with Praise
BLVRS proudly calls their style “worshipop,” a fitting label for how they fuse worship and pop/EDM into one. They stand at the forefront of a growing movement that marries the euphoria of EDM culture with the reverence of worship. In EDM festival culture, music is immersive and communal—crowds unite under the beat, often experiencing a sense of transcendence together. BLVRS taps into that phenomenon, but where the typical rave might celebrate the music itself, BLVRS redirects that ecstatic energy upward, toward the Creator. There’s no one “Christian sound” — Christian music is just music that talks about the Lord, Jordan has observed. With that freedom, BLVRS freely weave trance-like synth lines, dance drops, and pop hooks into a fabric of praise. Theologically, they aren’t changing the message; they’re changing the medium. Their creative perspective is that worship can wear many outfits – sometimes a quiet hymn, other times a booming bass rhythm – and all can glorify God when offered sincerely.
In practice, this worship + EDM merger means a song like “Gratitude” can thrive in multiple spaces. BLVRS collaborated with the pop-worship band Mass Anthem and the Anthem X collective on this release, underscoring a broader effort to break genre barriers in Christian music. The production techniques they employ – side-chained pads that swell like a heartbeat, glitchy vocal chops echoing hallelujah in the background, and EDM “drops” after the chorus – are hallmarks of secular festival hits, yet here they are repurposed to intensify a moment of worship. It’s a bit of sanctified subversion: taking the sounds of the club and turning them into a church. Jordan’s soulful voice provides an anchor of genuine worship amid the electronic flourishes, ensuring the “spirit and truth” of worship isn’t lost in the mix. For fans of mainstream EDM, BLVRS’ worshipop style is a revelation that the same chills and thrills they get from an Illenium drop can be found glorifying God, too. And for worship listeners, it’s a reminder that our praise can be “wrapped in an infectious sound” without diluting its sincerity. This cultural crossover is exactly what BLVRS is aiming for. “Our goal is to make the best art possible… and reach people in unexpected ways,” Owen says– even if that way is a synthesizer riff that opens a heart to receive God’s love.
From Youth Nights to Festivals: A New Anthem for Modern Worship
With their remix of “Gratitude,” BLVRS paints a picture of where modern worship can go. Imagine a youth conference: the lights go dim after a classic worship set, and suddenly the room is filled with an EDM rhythm. Teens who might normally disengage find themselves jumping in unison, shouting “hallelujah” over a drop, encountering God’s presence in a dance-party atmosphere. BLVRS specifically envisions their music in these spaces. Jordan’s expressive vocals and Owen’s energetic production create “an energy that could light up a festival stage,” the duo notes – and they mean that both literally and spiritually. This “Gratitude” remix wouldn’t be out of place at a Christian festival like Creation or Elevation Conference, where pyrotechnics and praise go hand in hand. It’s the kind of track that a DJ could spin at the end of the night to turn a concert into a spontaneous worship session. In fact, BLVRS’ production intentionally leaves space for reflection amid the energy, making it suited not only for club-style atmospheres but also for personal prayer time with headphones on.
On streaming platforms, BLVRS’ “Gratitude” fits seamlessly into the modern Christian playlists that younger audiences gravitate towards. It has already appeared alongside other fresh Christian dance tracks on new release spotlights. One can find it on Spotify or Apple Music’s Christian EDM and workout worship playlists, standing out as both a vertical worship song and a catchy electronic tune. This dual identity is exactly what gives the track its power in modern worship spaces. For church leaders, it offers a tool to engage youth in worship by speaking the musical language they love. For festival DJs, it’s a ready-made finale that keeps the focus on God even as the crowd sweats and dances. And for the individual listener, it’s a song that can turn a morning commute or a late-night study session into a mini worship experience—one moment nodding to the beat, the next moment genuinely moved by the lyric “I throw up my hands and praise You again and again.” The versatility of the remix is a testament to BLVRS’ vision: worship is not confined to pews and quiet moments; it can explode in technicolor and still be holy.
BLVRS themselves see “Gratitude” as part of a larger movement in 2025. Their “Gratitude” cover is just the beginning of what is in store for 2025, they hint, promising more genre-blending projects to come. In interviews, they’ve expressed excitement about releasing a lot more music and even experimenting beyond EDM – from pop-punk flavors to acoustic touches – all while keeping that BLVRS signature of faith-fueled energy. It’s clear they hope songs like “Gratitude” will pave the way for more innovation in Christian music, where artists feel free to glorify God with whatever sound is burning in their hearts. “There’s no one formula,” Jordan says about the future of the genre. “You just make great music that glorifies God… There’s no one ‘Christian sound.’” BLVRS’ “Gratitude” is living proof: a song that started as a gentle piano-led worship ballad can be reborn as a festival-ready EDM anthem without losing its soul.
A Cinematic Praise for a New Generation
In the end, BLVRS’ reimagining of “Gratitude” feels like the soundtrack to a revival that’s both modern and timeless. It’s at once a cinematic journey—for the mind pictures grand landscapes of God’s grace listening to it—and an intimate prayer of thanks from a believer’s heart. The duo’s ability to merge the thrill of EDM culture with the depth of worship shows a creative and theological maturity: they understand that God’s truth is unchanging, but the musical vehicles that carry it can evolve. As the final chorus of “Gratitude” (BLVRS version) rings out with synths roaring and the lyric “come on my soul” echoing, you get the sense of standing on a mountaintop with countless others, shouting praise into the night sky. That’s the vision BLVRS has realized—a truly cinematic worship experience that engages not just the ears, but the soul.
For fans of Christian EDM, BLVRS’ work is more than just a fresh cover; it’s a promise of what worship can become. It says: worship can be a dance track and still break you down to tears in God’s presence. It can be youth-friendly and yet profound enough for any age. BLVRS has opened a door, and behind it is a vibrant space where rave beats and reverence meet. Step through, lift up your hands (or glow sticks), and join in the gratitude.
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