Back surgery is not enough to keep Israel Houghton from going full throttle towards the release of Israel & New Breed’s sixth Integrity Music release, A Deeper Level, on September 4, 2007.

Following emergency surgery on Friday, August 10 in Houston, Houghton has fully recovered and is back to work maintaining a full promotional and touring schedule as well as fulfilling his worship leader duties at Lakewood Church, all leading up to A Deeper Level’s release date.

“Thanks to everyone for your prayers,” Houghton said. “What was a very minor procedure turned in to a major outpouring of love.”

An outpouring of critical acclaim and sales success are expected to follow the release of A Deeper Level on Sept. 4. A Deeper Level was produced by the award-winning team of Israel Houghton and Aaron Lindsey. The CD is packed with energetic praise and worship songs but also shows a contemplative and prayerful side to Israel & New Breed reflecting the group’s desire that A Deeper Level moves listeners to deeper worship that leads to acts of compassion and justice.

A special part of A Deeper Level is the A-list Christian and gospel artists who make guest appearances on the CD. The 2006-7 Dove Award Artist of the Year Chris Tomlin co-wrote and provides a vocal on “I Know Who I Am.” Grammy Award-winning Jonny Lang displays his world-renown guitar skills and smooth vocals on the acoustic “You Are Not Forgotten” while West Coast rap veteran T-Bone guests on “With Long Life.” And, International Worship Leader Darlene Zschech appears providing a prayerful introduction to the song “Deeper.”

“Israel Houghton’s music defies categorization. You cannot box him into a genre. His sound isn’t black or white or Latin. It isn’t Gospel or CCM (Contemporary Christian) or rock. It’s a Spirit sound, a Kingdom sound and with A Deeper Level, he’s created his best music yet,” said Don Moen, president of Integrity Music.

Agreeing with that sentiment is CMCentral.com who has already posted an early review of A Deeper Level. CMCentral.com gives the project a high 93 percent “buy” rating and says, “The substantial cumulative power of A Deeper Level hits the target, making it an absolute must-have for any sincere worshipper.”

Releasing simultaneously with the CD will be the Whitaker House book A Deeper Level, Houghton’s first endeavor as an author. The book offers Houghton’s take on what it means to truly live a lifestyle of worship. In addition to Houghton’s personal insights, members of the New Breed team include their thoughts on topics such as pulling down idols, being ever aware of God’s presence, and embracing new mind-sets. A Deeper Level also includes images of band members and lyrics from the new CD.

In support of the new record and book, Houghton conducts a photo shoot and interview for Ebony Magazine later this week, and then heads to Chicago with New Breed for a street date event sponsored by The Music Experience store. “The Experience with Israel & New Breed” will include an interview, performance and CD signing at The DuSable Museum in South Chicago. Hometown Houston celebrates the release the next day with a KSBJ radio sponsored Brown Bag Event at Wal-Mart.

Following the promotional visits, Israel & New Breed, will also tour the new record extensively with a 30-plus city fall “A Deeper Level Tour.” In the midst of all this activity, Houghton will continue serving his role as a worship leader for Lakewood Church in Houston, under the pastoral leadership of Joel Osteen. That church just claimed the #1 spot on Outreach magazine’s list of the 100 Largest U.S. Churches with 45,000 attendees a week.

Israel & New Breed is the 2007 Grammy Award Winner for Traditional Gospel Album of the Year for Alive in South Africa, and have also been honored with multiple Dove, Stellar and Soul Train Awards. The group has two RIAA gold-certifications for Alive In South Africa and Live From Another Level. Israel and New Breed have been featured on FOX, CBS, ABC, BET, TBN and CBN with appearances at major events and festivals including Franklin Graham crusades and Sydney, Australia’s Hillsong Conference. Israel and New Breed tours extensively both domestically and internationally including a recent trip to Ghana. Israel and New Breed was founded by Israel Houghton and his wife Meleasa. Houghton is a worship leader for Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston and the other members of New Breed serve at their respective churches.