Lauren Daigle’s new, self-titled album was born from a time of pain during which the singer struggled with anxiety and depression. Daigle shared these details about her album’s background in an interview with People Magazine.
“I felt like I didn’t know myself anymore,” Daigle said. “I started developing panic attacks.” She had seen amazing success with her 2018 album “Look Up Child” and her record-setting song, “You Say.” But in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Daigle to stop touring and “it all dismantled. You combine the disappointment with grief and loss and the state of the world,” said Daigle, and that perfect storm led her into anxiety and depression. “I found myself at a rock bottom.”
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Lauren Daigle: ‘My Whole World Fell Apart’
Lauren Daigle is a Grammy Award-winning Christian artist who on May 12 released her latest album, which Daigle has described as her “most precious project.” The singer departed from her previous record label, Centricity Music, and released her new album with Atlantic Records. The record is releasing in two parts—the first 10 songs came out May 12 and the second 10 will release later this year.
Daigle shared with the New York Times that she has had some apprehension about how people will receive her new album since it will include some love songs. She explained, “I’m all about writing songs to help people through things they’re questioning,” but she wonders if people will wrongly assume those songs are about her personal life.
Creating her new album, she told People, “was this rebirth process…My whole world fell apart, and I had to learn how to find myself again.” Healing came through the support of family and friends, as well as through counseling.
Listeners can hear echoes of her struggle in the lyrics of her new album, such as in the single “Thank God I Do”:
It’s been a hard year
So many nights in tears
All of the darkness
Tryin’ to fight my fears
Alone, so long, alone
I don’t know who I’d be if I didn’t know You
I’d probably fall off the edge
I don’t know where I’d go if You ever let go
So keep me held in Your hands
Daigle performed the singles “These Are the Days” and “Thank God I Do” (both from her new album) during this week’s “American Idol” finale with runner-up Megan Danielle. It was a “full circle moment” for the two as Daigle had originally surprised Danielle by joining her in singing “You Say” during Danielle’s audition for the reality show.
