How Love and Kindness Shine Through Lauren Daigle’s Music
Movieguide® Contributor
Like many people during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lauren Daigle found herself in a place of confusion and discouragement.
So, she decided to make a new album about her outlook on life — “Lauren Daigle.”
“During COVID, there was so much despair,” Daigle said. “I started writing these songs because I needed these songs to pull me out of that. I needed God to come and breathe on this experience for me, to remind me of how life can begin again.”
“This album is self-titled because it was definitely a new beginning for me internally,” the “Look Up Child” singer said. “This was a new beginning for me to simply begin again. It was a step for me to say, ‘Okay God, I see places in my life that I have let go of and now I get to start over and regain the things that I thought I lost.’”
This album is the most personal to Daigle.
“If I’m honest, this record is in a world of its own as far as how it relates to me,” the artist explained. “This record is the reflection of a new beginning of something transformative that took place in my life. God came in and whispered to me that I have this purpose and a reason for what I do, and I don’t have to lose myself along the way.”
“This record felt very natural, very organic,” the artist said. “I was surrounded by people who were in world-class positions of their own. So they didn’t have any need for me to be somebody. They already had their thing going, and then we got to partner together. I think that was really new and really fresh.”
Daigle partnered with Mike Elizondo, who worked with 50 Cent and Carrie Underwood, and Shane McAnally, who worked with Kelly Clarkson and Kacey Musgraves.
“Looking back, I can see how God had orchestrated the right people at the right time, because here I was in a season where I felt completely powerless, completely voiceless because of the state of the world at the time — but also because of things that have been taking place in my personal life,” she said. “But He surrounded me with people who were so confident, that used their voice for the right things, that knew who they were, that weren’t intimidated by the world. And I don’t think that was coincidental.”
At first, she did feel some apprehension about her vision for the album.
“I feel like that was something that was really hard in the beginning,” Daigle admitted. “How do I overcome the fear of a bad idea?”
But rather than give in to that fear, Daigle let her “authenticity” speak for itself.
“Truthfully, I feel like authenticity is simply a by-product of who I am,” Daigle said. “I always catch myself over-sharing in moments. But I love things that are authentic, and I’m definitely at a place where I want to sing about those authentic moments in my life.”
“I feel like I talk about things that I haven’t talked about before lyrically,” she said of the album.
The record differs from Daigle’s prior albums, but she still sings of hope and love as in her other songs.
“The darkness does not overtake the light,” Daigle said. “I mean, look at Revelation. In the end, Jesus comes back and wipes every tear.”
“That’s a celebration after a time of despair,” she continued. “And that’s what we did with this record.”
Her song “Thank God I Do” talks about despair and light at the end of the tunnel.
“So we acknowledge the despair there and then end at ‘These Are The Days.’ That song sheds light on how we might be in intense times, or we might be in moments where people are like, how much darker is the world actually about to get? What is going on? This is all crazy. But that song is to remind people that, no, there are so many good things on the horizon. There are still good things ahead.”
As her prominence in the music scene grows — she just performed with renowned singer Andrea Bocelli — Daigle promises that she’ll never lose sight of who she is in God’s eyes.
“It doesn’t matter how big I get, I will always do what I can to make sure people know they are loved by me and by God,” she said.
READ MORE: CHRISTIAN ARTIST SHARES ‘UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT’ PERFORMING WITH ANDREA BOCELLI
She loves to make connections with her fans, even if they’re just simple interactions.
“We’re all looking for connections to people,” Daigle said. “And what we’re really looking for boils down to this: Can I relate to you, and can you relate to me? Or in an even simpler form than that, we’re asking, Can I love you, and are you capable of loving me? So how do we get to the simplest expression of that?”
“Well, I think the simplest versions of connection are the purest versions of connection when we can just look into someone’s eyes and say thank you!” she continued. “When we can look into someone ‘s eyes and say, ‘I see you.’ That does something so beautiful — not just for me, not just for the person next to me, but for humanity as a whole. Those are the experiences I long to bring into the world.”
She’s ready to spread that message of love and kindness wherever she goes.
“You know, I’ve seen their shirts and stuff that say, ‘BE KIND!’” Daigle said. “And sometimes when a message is thrown in your face so much it gets watered down. But I feel like kindness is one of those things that doesn’t matter how many T-shirts are printed, it is always going to be just as impactful to the actual action of kindness.”
“People need kindness. The world needs kindness, especially now.”
She hopes that people will feel loved at her concerts.
“This is the one chance that somebody might have to feel love,” she said. “They might not have had a hug for a year. Who knows the last time that somebody has looked them in their eyes?”
“You just don’t know what people’s stories are. So I don’t care how big I get — I don’t even have a desire to be famous because it makes me really uncomfortable — but I deeply long for people to feel loved and I don’t ever want that to change,” she said.
The artist recently spoke about how fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
“Fame can be a complete and total mirage,” she said on Hope 103.2’s “Undistracted” podcast. “It’s a brilliant and beautiful platform that you can impact lives in the most positive way, and it also comes with a world of responsibilities that kids don’t necessarily dream of.”
“If we continue the celebration of fame and fortune in this generation, we are going to ruin the next generation,” she said.
READ MORE: CHRISTIAN ARTIST USES AGT STAGE TO REMIND US OF OUR GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE
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