In the Spotlight|February 06, 2013 03:20 EST
Artist Spotlight: Plumb’s Tiffany Lee On Her Personally Prophetic New Album, "I Need You Now"
If you've never purchased a Plumb CD, Need You Now, Tiffany Lee's newest effort, is definitely the one to buy.
The album's title track is autobiographical and brutally honest - as so much of Plumb's music often is. In it, Lee sings about the anxiety that she dealt with as a teenager and that she sometimes still experiences as an adult. It is there, in the midst of those panic attacks, that she needs God more than ever.
"That particular song talks about needing Him in the moment, unlike ever before," says Lee, "and then realizing that we don't have this punch card with God that says we can only need Him 20 times, or 50 times. There is no punch card and He actually does not grow tired of our need for Him."
Ultimately, Lee realized that the song's title would be perfect for the entire album (an earlier version was dismissed out of respect for Sandy Hook victims), as the entire collection of songs speaks to the never-ending human dependency on God, and His faithfulness to show up over and over again.
"I've always tried to title the record, not just by pulling a title of a song off of it because it's quirky, but by trying to find a song -or a lyric from a song - that kind of ties the whole project together,"explains Lee. "And, oddly enough, 'Need You Now' does that."
Lee says that the song's theme of a desperate longing for God's touch is apparent on each track of the album due out February 26. "Every song is about Him giving us that hope the He will never leave us and that He will never forsake us," says Lee. "He will never give us more than we can bear; He will actually be the added strength that we need to get through anything that comes our way."
It may seem like Lee is more in awe than ever of God's loving-kindness - and she is. Shortly after writing I Need You Now, she endured a personal crisis that made her own lyrics more prophetic than she could have ever anticipated.
Lee remembers the day clearly: On February 7, 2012 - almost one year ago, exactly - she stood in her home and resigned to the fact that her marriage was headed for divorce. She, like her relationship, was broken and hurt, and she couldn't see a way out.
"Some would say that it's spooky, but I don't think it's spooky,"says Lee. "I think that it's Divine. And I think God knew that those songs needed to be written, and they needed to be heard, and that hope needed to be shared. And my capacity to be able to share that would have looked very different had I not gone through what I've been through."
And just like she describes on her new record, God was there all along, giving her and her husband the strength to endure and start anew.
"I didn't let it destroy me; I let God take the ashes and make something beautiful," says Lee. "I've witnessed a miracle, and my marriage is restored. It's better than it's ever been, and the enemy has been defeated."
Her victory is one that she hopes to share with fans and listeners of her music who may be in the midst of their own crisis. And In the wake of her marital transformation, Lee says that she is looking forward to the release of I Need You Now more than any other project in her career.
And her husband? He's completely behind it, too.
"I have never in my lifetime been more excited about a record and what I believe God can and willdo through it," she says. "My husband and I are 100% united in being excited about this record's release and being very open about what God has done in our home."