Every so often, a Christian pop song crosses over into the mainstream and becomes a smash. In 2018, singer-songwriter Lauren Daigle hit that magic mark with her ballad “You Say,” which landed at No. 1 on both the secular adult contemporary chart and the Christian pop chart.
It is one of those songs that Daigle will likely sing in concert the rest of her career. The song’s message, she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a recent interview, has lasting resonance.
“People want to feel like they matter,” said Daigle, who is coming to State Farm Arena on Friday, Oct. 6. (Tickets range from $39.50 to $194.25 on Ticketmaster.) “They want to feel love. When people have doubts and question their purpose, the song helps answer some of that. People often think of God as some mean guy sitting upstairs condemning them for being human. The song reminds them that they’re valuable and have worth.”
While singles now dominate the world courtesy of streaming, Daigle is old school when it comes to albums. She recently was obsessed with Jon Batiste’s Grammy-winning album “We Are.” “He’s from Louisiana like me and I just loved how he told his musical journey with such brilliant pop swagger,” she said.
She recorded so many songs over the past couple of years, she decided to release her new 23-song album in two increments. It’s her first release in five years. “Asking people to sit down to music for two hours straight is a tough ask in this day and age of the eight second attention span,” she said.
The first ten songs of the eponymous album came out in May and the second 13 songs were released in a second volume last month. “I wrote some songs from the soul and some from the spirit, about God,” Daigle said. “There were so many themes tucked in and woven. The soul is how we experience love, how we go through life and how our external experience shapes our internal. The spirit is something transcendent. It’s how God interacts with us.”
She worked with Grammy-winning produce Mike Elizondo who has worked with a wide range of artists such as 50 Cent, Carrie Underwood, Fiona Apple, Atlanta hard rock group Mastodon, Twenty One Pilots and Lin-Manuel Miranda. He co-wrote songs such as Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair,” Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady” and Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova.”
“I didn’t know much about him,” Daigle said. “People would recommend I work with him. When I finally did, my mind was officially blown. I remember telling him, ‘What do you want this record to sound like?’ I was going for authenticity. I didn’t want to be somebody I’m not. I didn’t want a song to be like rock. I wanted it rock strong. I didn’t want a song to be like soul. It had to be soul strong. He totally understood and dove in.”
She said he brought a new grandeur and intensity in a bluesy song like “Don’t Believe Them.” And she made sure the recordings sounded more like her live band concert performances. “We recorded almost everything at the same time instead of piecing it together,” she said. “It was more that Muscle Shoals vibe. The sonic clarity and intensity was beyond real.”
Daigle, who now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, did spend a year in Atlanta before she broke it big as a solo artist. “I sang for a church called North Point,” she said. “I still have a ton of friends in Atlanta. It’s one of my favorite places.”
She tried out multiple times for “American Idol” in the early 2010s but never made it to the live shows. But she doesn’t feel resentful and happily helped out the show earlier this year. Douglasville’s Megan Danielle, who ended up finishing second in May, was a huge Daigle fan and sang “You Say” during her audition.
Daigle happened to be in Las Vegas at the same time performing a show so “Idol” producers engineered her appearance in the middle of Danielle’s audition. Danielle’s reaction was, naturally, shock. “It was so sweet,” Daigle said.
IF YOU GO
Lauren Daigle
7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 6. $39.50-$194.50. State Farm Arena, 1 State Farm Drive, Atlanta. ticketmaster.com
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