Graves into Gardens

Elevation Worship's Chris Brown shared the meaning behind the album title and its theme,[8][9] saying:

Many of our songs come from sermons that Pastor Steven preaches. The title track, in particular, launched from a message of his called 'The Mystery of Potential.' He was in that 2 Kings passage which details that after the prophet Elisha died, his story didn't end there. Two Israelites were near his gravesite about to bury another man. When they saw a band of enemy raiders coming, they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. As soon as the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet (2 Kings 13:20-21). Elisha still had a resurrection miracle left in his bones, and God is still in the business of bringing dead things back to life. If we'll trust God even with the seemingly dead areas of our lives, if we'll believe in the power of God, if we'll declare resurrection power over everything we sow, nothing will be wasted. Nothing is over. God can turn any situation around.

The album's nine original tracks were recorded over a night on January 15, 2020, at Elevation Church's Ballantyne campus in Charlotte, North Carolina,[9] where previous Elevation Worship projects have been recorded. Elevation Worship's Chris Brown noted that while most of the songs were written in 2019, "Rattle" and "The Blessing" were written and recorded in early 2020.[10][8] The band collaborated with Bethel Music's Brandon Lake in writing a number of songs on the album and featured on the album's title track, other collaborators also included Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes on co-writing and leading "The Blessing" as well as Tauren Wells lending his vocals on "Never Lost".[8]

"The Blessing" was written by Jobe, Carnes, together with Steven Furtick and Brown in a writing session on Thursday, February 27, 2020, at Elevation prior to leading it at Elevation's Sunday service on March 1, 2020.[11][12] "Rattle" was written during quarantine with voice memos and over Zoom calls, and the track was recorded without a live audience, with the band practicing social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10]

In October 2019, Premier Productions announced that Elevation Worship alongside Pastor Steven Furtick would be going on their first arena tour, dubbed Elevation Nights 2020.[20] The tour was slated to commence at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in Austin, Texas, on May 26, 2020, and set to conclude at Barclays Center in New York City.[21] The band revealed in March 2020 that the tour will be in support of the then upcoming album.[22]

In April 2020, Elevation Worship announced that the Elevation Nights 2020 tour was cancelled in response to combating the COVID-19 pandemic.[23]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
365 Days of Inspiring Media	4.5/5[24]
CCM Magazine	[25]
The Christian Beat	5/5[26]
Hallels	3/5[27]
Jesus Freak Hideout	[28]

Graves into Gardens was met with generally positive reviews. Joshua Andre in his 365 Days of Inspiring Media review praised the album in his review, saying, "I reckon their latest offering is one of the most cohesive ever- yep even more so than Hallelujah Here Below."[24] At CCM Magazine, Dan McIntosh rated the album three-point-five stars out of five, he acknowledged that the collection has "some truly standout tracks," but bemoaned the overall length saying, "this album could have used a little editing."[25] Herb Longs of The Christian Beat gave the album five out of five stars and said that it "dynamically showcases the collective talents of the group while spotlighting a number of special guests".[26] Timothy Yap, in his review for Hallels, felt that the album was underwhelming as it did not match the poetic and artful depiction of the album artwork, saying "Though there are still moments of sublimity, they are all mixed together in what feels like an extremely long album, with one of the songs marathoning close to the 10-minute mark."[27] Michael Weaver of Jesus Freak Hideout complimented the range of the tracks, saying "Elevation manages to break things up just by changing vocalists, but also by completely changing styles. The album features rock, contemporary worship, pop, and gospel music. Not many of the major worship groups are swinging for the fences in this way."[28]

In the United States, Graves into Gardens earned 16,000 equivalent album units in its first week of sales, and as a result debuted at No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums Chart dated May 16, 2020, the band's fifth chart-topping release on the tally.[29] The album concurrently registered on the mainstream Billboard 200 chart at No. 34.[30] Graves into Gardens debuted on the OCC's Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart at No. 2.[31]

Graves into Gardens also appeared at No. 38 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart,[32] No 66 on the Canadian Albums Chart,[33] No. 39 on Scottish Albums,[34] and No 47 on the Swiss Hitparade.[35]

Adapted from AllMusic.[41]

• Lyrics and sheet music for the album on PraiseCharts