Plumb [Need You Now]
Posted February 21, 2013
By KevinDavis_NRT, Staff Reviewer
With chart topping hits across multiple genres over the course of her career, Plumb presents yet again another brilliant studio collection. Titled Need You Now after the six week number one hit, "Need You Now (How Many Times)," the album delivers Plumb’s signature sound in top hits, "One Drop," "I Don’t Deserve You" and "Beautiful." Plumb’s infectious artistry has been featured in major motion pictures and TV shows. I remember the first time I heard Plumb’s song “God-Shaped Hole.” I immediately connected to the catchy melody and poignant lyrics. Throughout her career, she has continued to entertain and challenge listeners looking to fill that “God-shaped hole in all of us.”
Proving her lyrical prowess, Plumb aptly captures her essence on the opener "Invisible” when she sings, "I’m sick and then I’m well / So full so empty still / You leave me wanting / Oh tell me where’d you go / Don’t be invisible / Cause I am reaching / Save me." Therein lies the beautiful paradox of Plumb's art; she molds elements of rock, pop, and electronica together and does so while singing about some difficult subjects like physical abuse, alienation, and depression. "Beautiful,” I Want You Here" and "Say Your Name" are telling examples with Plumb's edgy rock mixing perfectly with strings. “Beautiful” perfectly displays the reality of marriage with the poignant lyrics: “Oh I don't deserve you ‘cause I always hurt you / then you say the perfect thing / you're beautiful, so beautiful to me.” I've been married for eighteen years, and the "crazy cycle" of marriage is one that hinges on compromise and asking for forgiveness. Just like in "Real Life Fairytale," Plumb captures the marriage dynamic in a catchy song. Now a mother of three, she seasons her lyrics with her life experience, making her lyrics even more relatable to listeners.
“I Want You Here” features Plumb’s signature epic sound layered around Tiffany’s powerful vocals, as she belts out “An ache, so deep, that I can hardly breathe…God help me, God help me, God help me, Breathe.” Tiffany struggled with panic attacks and shortness of breath and has learned to reach out to God in prayer for healing as also reflected in her hit song "Need You Now (How Many Times)." The title track is a wonderful song of encouragement and prayer to ask God to break your pride, live redemption's story, and move closer to who we're meant to be in Christ. Allow God and His Holy Spirit to change you to be more like Jesus, and move closer to His glory. The chorus of the song says it all, "How many times have You heard me cry out, "God please take this"? How many times have You given me strength to just keep breathing? Oh I need You, God, I need You now." God wants us to know that He's faithful to complete what's He's started in all of us who've put all of our hope and trust in Jesus for our salvation.
The stark and majestically beautiful songs "Unlovable” and “I Don’t Deserve You” both showcase Plumb's wonderful voice, and don't miss how she soars with eagles on these dramatic songs. Both songs bring me to tears as I pray along with Tiffany with the incredible lyrics of “Unlovable.” She brings out the truth of our fallen and judgmental selves when she proclaims: “So we say we love Jesus / But didn’t we kill Him / ‘cause we thought He was different / I bet He was saying…Why Me? Why am I not welcome in your company? Why do you treat Me like an enemy? If you believe the way you say you do / then why am I unlovable to you?” Oh my, the tears just flow when I listen to that gorgeous song. Have a box of tissues when you listen to the Prodigal Son inspired “I Don’t Deserve You.” Tiffany wrote the song directly to her song Oliver and as a father of three daughters, and a chosen son of my Heavenly Father, I can’t listen to this gorgeous song without being moved. The picture of God’s unconditional love for us after all that we’ve done wrong is profoundly captured in the chorus—“I don't deserve Your love / But You give it to me anyway / Can't get enough / You're everything I need / And when I walk away / You take off running and come right after me / It's what You do / And I don't deserve You.”
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Need You Now has been one of my favorite albums to savor in many years, as the combination of Tiffany Arbuckle-Lee’s incredible vocal range and her compelling and relevant lyrics have never been more perfectly combined than with this stellar and flawless masterpiece. Plumb’s longtime producer Matt Bronleewe perfectly describes her unique sound as "raw, lyrically introspective vocals floating across an epic soundscape." Every Plumb album is an immersion into her life. Each is unique, tied to the emotions and circumstances that inspired it, and yet each is timeless, identifiable as the outpouring of a singular artistic vision. Every song on this album is excellent, and Need You Now is the album of the year. View All Music And Book Reviews By KevinDavis_NRT | View KevinDavis_NRT's Profile
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