When the soundtrack for
Blade Runner 2049 released this past Thursday, many Christian music fans were surprised to see an unlikely yet familiar name on the track list: BIllboard/Grammy/ Dove Award-nominated
Lauren Daigle, who appears on the soundtrack with her original song "Almost Human."
RELATED: Lauren Daigle Makes History with Two Gold Singles
Daigle received the exciting opportunity to write a song for the movie in January of this year when her management was contacted by record label Alcon Sleeping Giant, requesting her talents. Lauren had just finished telling her management team of her desire to eventually write a score for a film, when they chuckled and told her the news. "I started laughing because timing is not something I take for granted; I see it as fingerprints."
Daigle wrote in a lengthy Facebook post about her experience. After accepting the gig and flying to LA, it took Lauren and a writing team only two days to finish the song. "There is a moment in the writing room that I wait for, the moment where I can feel God breathe on something," Lauren said of her writing experience. "In the first day of writing, it seemingly wasn't there. I left feeling like that was my life or death, my yes or no. I knew we had to tweak some things. The next day, I went in to complete the song lyric and lay down the vocal. For me, I was still waiting. Back and forth, sitting still, walking in circles. And then, the last lyric came. We ran around the room like children. It was the moment the 'yes' showed up. The breath was there filling the words on the page and equipping my soul for territories I have never known."
Lauren described her heart behind the song and how she drew on some deep, redemptive themes from the movie to bring it to life: "We, as humans, long for hope. We long for love. We long for value. I was walking through a time where I needed to be reminded of those same things. Not because of what I do. Not because of successes. Not because I have a voice or people telling me I'm valuable. But because of whose I am and who I am. If this whole world changes, am I still whole in the end? Although, I had never seen
Blade Runner 2049, I was told the synopsis of the story during the writing session. I didn't have an acting role in the film, but I had the opportunity to become a sonic actor, to tell a story of searching and questioning through sound. I dove in, relating to the emotions and feelings of each character. When it came time to act my scene, the pen and paper became the backdrop where lyrics evolved into life. I embraced the idea of what it felt like to never meet your full potential, to strive for something you could never attain, and long for what you could never have. We, as humans, can be tossed aside and undervalued even while giving life your hardest fight, your best effort. This is where I see my need for something greater. This is where I see my need for God to give me the hope I long for, the love I'm desperately wired for, and the value my identity searches for."
"Almost Human," available now on
iTunes and
Spotify, was featured in this week's New Music Friday playlist on Spotify. Fellow CCM artist
Jason Gray posted a shoutout about the new song on his social media, saying, "Lauren has a song featured on the new
Blade Runner soundtrack! She perfectly walks the line between singing a song that speaks her heart language and is true to her but also serves the themes in
Blade Runner (the original has always been one of my favorite movies with its existential questions of what it means to be human, what would it be like to meet our maker, and can technology have a soul? I'm excited for the new movie and proud of Lauren."
Despite a lot of praise for the track, Lauren knew that some of her fans may inevitably have questions concerning her decision to write a song for a mainstream film. To those she wrote, "You might have questions. Trust me, I do too. But I'd rather walk into unfamiliar places with purpose than stay safe within the walls of complacency. I never know where the road goes, but I know where it leads. I'm excited for people I've never met to be inspired and to feel a love that transforms all of humanity."
