by When Peg Luke decided to breathe new life into the 19th-century hymn “My Faith Looks Up to Thee”, she crafted an experience. Her latest single, “My Faith Looks Up“, merges Celtic instrumentation with sacred lyrics, creating a track that feels timeless and modern at the same time.
Luke’s version trades traditional organ chords for Uilleann pipes and bodhrán rhythms, infusing the hymn with an Irish reel’s spirited lilt. “I fell in love with the sound of those pipes,” she admits, describing how Celtic rock inspired her to rework the hymn’s structure. The result is a danceable, almost cinematic arrangement where flute lines flutter like whispered prayers over earthy percussion.
The song’s emotional core is deeply personal. Living with an autoimmune condition, Peg Luke has spent years in pandemic-era isolation—a challenge that sharpened her creative focus. “I wanted people to feel light and airy, healed and invigorated,” she says. The track’s buoyancy mirrors that intent, with harp arpeggios and layered harmonies evoking a sense of rising above darkness.
Luke’s process was intuitive: The flute and bodhrán came first, followed by the harp, then the lyrics. She even flipped the hymn’s verses, placing the original closing stanza second to amplify its emotional arc. “There’s a mystery to this piece,” she notes, likening it to a scene where a healing light lifts a fallen protagonist.
This isn’t her first sacred-music reinvention. Her 2024 single, “Kyrie Eleison” cracked America’s Top 40, while “Halo” earned praise in The Los Angeles Tribune. But “My Faith Looks Up” stands apart as her most audacious blend yet.
With one foot in classical training (honed at venues like Carnegie Hall) and the other in genre-bending experimentation, she proves that faith-themed music doesn’t need to choose between reverence and innovation. As the track’s Uilleann pipes swell, listeners aren’t merely hearing a hymn—they’re feeling a resurrection.
