Louder Than The Music

Veteran artist Jimmy Needham has just released his seventh studio album, 'Vice & Virtue'. The singer chatted with LTTM about his new collection of songs and how he felt inspired to write them in the midst of an unnerving internal crisis.

Tell us a little bit about your new album 'Vice & Virtue' and what the inspiration behind it was?

God started exposing the pride that I was taking in my own spiritual life: My theological prowess, my investment in others, my prayer times, etc. All good things by any Christian standard, but I began to see that those things were not being done as an expression of love for God but as a way of building my spiritual resume. A study of Galatians by Tim Keller exposed my motives further and the idea for Vice & Virtue started to grow. I was literally seeing vice in all my virtue. These songs are an exploration of that theme.

Which is your favourite track on the album and why?

Jekyll & Hyde. It was the last song I wrote for the album and I’m so glad I was able to sneak it in. Although it’s a pretty standard 12 bar blues structure, I feel like God gave me a lot of clarity on the topic at hand. It was really fun to weave literary reference throughout it, a little homage to Stevenson.

Do you prefer playing live or working in the studio?

Live. There’s nothing like seeing your fans enjoy the fruit of your labor and there’s REALLY nothing like seeing them understand bits of the gospel as the show moves along.

If you could work with any songwriter, who would it be and why?

Maybe Derek Webb. We don’t see eye to eye on everything but as a lyricist and artistic risk taker, I know no one better.

How would you define success in your career as an artist?

Success is faithfulness to what I sense God has called me to do in this career: Make art excellently that makes the gospel rhyme. If this is happening, no bad review or poor sales can steal my joy in what I do.

How would you describe your style of music and what are your influences?

I’ve heard the term “blue-eyed soul” to describe an artist of “fair skin” who makes soulful music. I kind of like “clear-eyed soul” though. Wanting to make soulful feeling music that has a clear view of the Truth of God in it’s gaze. Maybe that’s hokey though. Oh well.

What is your favorite album of all time? Why?

For the music: Contiuum by John Mayer. Unbelievable and every song is a gem.
For the content: Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson. Anyone who can trace the salvific history of God’s people through every song on his record chronologically deserves some sort of major award.