Lauren Daigle has never met a stranger.
Sure, in the literal sense, the eight-time K-LOVE Fan Award winner has interacted with countless numbers of individuals she didn’t know when she stepped out of her house that day. But figuratively? There’s a simpler way to instantly connect than you might think.
“I feel like it all starts with a smile,” the singer/songwriter told DJ Lauree during a recent visit to the K-LOVE Studios. “It really is that simple in nature. It can be really hard to give one of those; like, sometimes when you're wrapped up in intimidation or fear or just being shy, being uncertain, and there is this projection of the world is vicious and maybe kind of scary at times. But a smile can break a million doors open. It's amazing what can happen and how disarming a smile is.”
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Daigle has been doing plenty of grinning lately, especially with a new, self-titled album set to hit the market on May 12 and a subsequent tour to follow this fall. A project that began in October of 2020, Daigle’s third record with 20 songs total – 10 of which will be released in the coming days, and then the rest to come later this year – is the latest collection of offerings that are sure to resonate with fans in monumental ways.
That’s exactly Daigle’s prayer for the album – that the music will not just inspire but revolutionize.
“[I pray] God would show up in ways at these shows, singing this music in ways that are absolutely transformative for people,” Daigle said. “[I [pray that these moments] wouldn't be like the dipping of our toe, right? We're not just dipping our toe in like, ‘OK, that was a cute little God moment.’ I'm talking miracles. I want people to come in and even just singing or even just stepping in there and say, ‘What is going on? I've never known anything like this.’ Across all genres, across all people across the board, not just for one specific group of people, I want the kindness of God to come in… I want them to feel that in the room when they walk in or when they hear [the music] or when they're playing it over the speakers, when they're listening to the radio or listening to the album…just that impartation of God in every moment that you can possibly get. That's my greatest desire. True miracles, like, the real kind of miracles.”
Perhaps that miracle can start with a smile – and whether that comes from one of Daigle’s new songs or just an interaction with someone on the street, there’s no telling what God might do.
“There's this thing about a smile that can unlock a million doors,” Daigle said. “It can unlock the hardest heart. You can go in and see someone that is unkind or someone that would appear to be a certain way and you wouldn't want to associate with, but you give them a smile and after a few minutes of smiling, they're not going to be able to withstand it. There's this thing about a smile that can unlock some things.”
