Ev Worship.

EV Worship is a Guatemalan worship project. Its official channel introduces itself this way: “Esperanza Viva WORSHIP | Guatemala.” It doesn’t have a huge catalog or a release machine: it has two released songs and a short history, but with a detail few independent projects can tell.

The first step was “Quiero Adorarte,” with an official video on its channel on July 11, 2020. Eight months later, on March 21, 2021, came “Soberano Rey,” this time alongside singer Celeste Nova. The track —six minutes and ten seconds of congregational worship in Spanish— was released on Apple Music and Spotify under its own label (© 2021 Ev Worship), and its video has passed 85,000 views on YouTube.

Recognition came in 2022. The 17th edition of the Arpa Awards, held July 16 at the Roberto Cantoral Theater in Mexico City, nominated “Soberano Rey” in three categories: Producer of the Year, Best Cover Design, and Best Music Video. That same year, the AMCL Awards placed it in the shortlist for Song of the People of the Year.

Those three nominations say where this project’s strength comes from: they didn’t compete for performer of the year, but for production, cover art, and video — that is, for the craft that sustains a song when it’s sung in church and when it’s listened to on a phone.

Its music is worship in Spanish: two songs about surrendering and recognizing who reigns. Anyone who wants to get to know them can start with “Soberano Rey”; anyone who follows Christian music from Central America has a name to note here.