These conflicting emotions are at the heart of Nightlights and writing these songs was Needham’s way of working through his issues. “The heartbeat of the whole album comes from a line in the first song I wrote for the project, “The Reason I Sing,” he explains. “It says, ‘Compared to you, I’m just a nightlight against a blazing sun.’ We are so much less of a big deal than we think and writing the songs on this album was a really therapeutic way for me to get back into that mindset.”

Needham’s obsession with music began as an adolescent studying musical theatre before he graduated to playing guitar in high school. However, it wasn’t until college that he began writing his own material—and in some ways the success that’s followed seems accidental…or inevitable, depending on how you look at it.

“My headspace at the time I was starting out was, ‘I don’t want to be the guy who tries to beat down doors to get into the industry,’ so I just decided to keep doing things my own way and if they didn’t pan out, I would be content being a history teacher.” Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. His father helped him fund his first record in 2005 and Needham was approached by Inpop records who signed him after hearing his music on MySpace. He released his first major studio album, Speak in 2006, and Not Without Love in 2008.

“Since I didn’t beat down doors to get this job, I can kind of hold it with an open hand,” Needham says. “So if God takes this away, I’m going to sleep like a baby because it’s never really defined me.”

Needham’s music may not define him, but it’s helping him gain a hardcore following of fans and the respect of the Christian music industry for this talented young man from Katy, Texas.  While Nightlights is incredibly varied, at its core it’s just the next step in Needham’s musical evolution. Produced by Calvin Turner (known for his renowned work with Marc Broussard), the album sees Needham taking his love for classic soul artists like Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke and juxtaposing their influences to create his own distinctive sound. In fact, from funky gospels like “Moving To Zion” to soulful rockers like “Right Where You Are,” the album shows how much Needham has grown as a singer and songwriter over the past few years.

However, just when you think you have Needham figured out, he throws in one of Nighlights’ many sonic surprises. Most notably is the hip-hop, inflected neo-soul centerpiece “Grace Amazing.”  “I listened to a lot of hip-hop growing up and I’ve always written with a fast-paced lyricism, so I thought we would take some chances with this record,” he says. “‘Grace Amazing’ is my favorite track on the album right now and it’s kind of got a Maroon Five/Michael Jackson meets straight hip-hop kind of feel,” he explains, while adding that the track was also inspired by other genre-melding collaborations between artists like Jay-Z and Linkin Park. “I just love playing that song live and the response has been great. I think that the audience really appreciates when an artist is willing to take risks instead of just writing the same type of song over and over again.”

Ultimately, if there was one word that could be used to best describe Needham after listening to Nightlights, it would be humble—and regardless of your religious preferences, that’s an emotion that everyone can relate to.

“I probably have more songs on this CD than any of my other ones that aren’t explicitly Christian,” he states. “We’ve heard from plenty of people that really dig my stuff and they don’t know anything about Christ.  I want to reach the unchurched so I’m glad my music and lyrics are able to connect with anyone.”

This is my second chance / this is no song and dance / you came in and renewed a right spirit, Needham sings on the album’s debut single, “Yours To Take”—and that sentence is a pretty apt summarization of Nightlights’ overarching mission statement.  Penned by Needham, the song has lyrical depth but is encased with a catchy pop sound that is already resonating with radio and listeners.

"The goal of this record is to musically breakdown walls and help me achieve the mission my lyrics hope to carry out," Needham explains.  "My hope is that people would be both challenged and impacted by the truth in these songs, and that's all I can ask for."