Blessed with a singing voice from heaven and the tasteful compositional skills to write music that makes the most of it, UK born, Washington State based Henta Ellis has released a number of intriguing New Age vocal, pop, electronic and instrumental albums for quite a while now and this writer was lucky enough to review her 2010 album Laserium For The Soul. In 2012, she released Butterfly Song, which reflected her personal journey of continuing to search for peace and truth and, after moving into Anamchara Monastery & Ministries, Henta released her first Christian album called Beautiful Creation, followed by a collection of over 20 praise songs. It’s been a while but in late 2020, lo and behold, ten years after Laserium, Henta returned with a new album called Exodus. Speaking about the differences between now and then, Henta told me, “Laserium was more of a personal journey inwards to find peace and meaning but Exodus is about community, the need for social interaction and a group cry out to God for help... It’s about a desire to turn from our bad character (not loving and caring about others) to being great image bearers for God and recognizing that we have each been gifted with things we can bring to make the group stronger, not just ourselves! So Exodus is about leaving behind the self and idol worship by which the world can so easily distract us, with a renewed desire to do what is right and just and to bring a message of hope!” Henta, like the rest of us must have had a very hard decade because on the 12-track Exodus Henta has clearly turned to God to find solace and renewed inspiration. With its uplifting lyrical messages, Exodus is no doubt inspired by Henta becoming a teacher and music minister at Anamchara Ministries & Monastery. The spiritual element of Exodus is easy to see yet her voice is in such breathtaking form and it totally reflects her fondness for the sounds inspired by Celtic Christian Folk Worship and Hebrew praise. Superbly recorded and featuring a number of backing musicians and vocalists from Anamchara's fellowship and community, that Henta is keen to credit for their amazing contributions, Exodus is a noteworthy collection of songs about repentance, redemption and restoration, from the wilderness to the garden. As is usual with Henta’s albums, the sound quality is first-rate and the CD packaging is exemplary. Those listeners fortunate enough to hear her new album will find renewed hope for a better life with Exodus from spiritual music maker Henta Ellis. www.hentaellis.com

RMR Speaks To Henta Ellis About EXODUS

Shemoth 

Means ‘names’ in Hebrew, and is the second book of the Hebrew bible, which we also know as the book of Exodus.

The first chapter of Exodus details the names of God’s people who came into Egypt and how they turned from being a family into a nation.  

Just as God has relationship with all the stars in the sky and counts and names them, this is also how He relates to us, as His people, as He knows each one of us by name, which is a sign of love and affection.

Why Exodus?

When I started to write the very first song “Exodus” I believe God gave me an image of the Exodus of the Children of Israel and the sojourners walking slowly out of Egypt with all their belongings, livestock, through rain and shine, singing and praising God. This also represents the vision of our slow exodus from this current wilderness, as we daily choose God’s Kingdom over empire (the world representing self, idol worship of money, things, power).  

General album concept

Exodus is about repentance, redemption and restoration, from the wilderness to the Garden. Much of this album came about by recycling vocals and instrumentation from previous songs to create new songs yet retaining elements of the old, thus following the pattern of both spiritual and physical restoration. 

Also known as the ‘camp fire’ album, there is an organic feel due to the comradery and freedom of expression from those at Anamchara Ministries and a community of friends who were willing to take part in recording different elements, sometimes in unconventional places, all done with a joyful spirit.

This is a story of purity, hope and happiness. It’s about the continuous cry of God’s people from this current wilderness, with a fervent desire to turn back to Him, from idolatry. Through His Chesed (loving kindness) and His forgiveness, He helps his people to become better image bearers for Him, taking on His character and carrying out acts of justice and righteousness, which in turn perpetuates the beautiful restoration of His Kingdom on earth.

Anamchara Ministries

This is the Patrician Monastery and Ministry that I moved into back in 2013 and where I continue to live and work.  I am on staff here and the music director.  We are a monastic community based on Celtic Christianity, the model of which was established by St Patrick in Ireland.  Our mission is to reach out in love with kindness and compassion toward any and all who would need a helping hand: especially those looking for a better more fulfilling way of living life.  So I recorded the whole album here at AM and many of our fellowship members and friends donated their time and talents by singing and playing instruments. All my albums are self-released (my writing name is Henrietta S Ellis) and Henta Enterprises is my publishing name (with ASCAP/Harry Fox).