Sarah Téibo
‘He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness. For His name’s sake.’ (Psalm 23: 3)
Back in 2019, shortly after sensing in my spirit that my next album was to be a resource for corporate and personal worship, I heard the word ‘Restored’ as the title of the project. I was unclear as to what God wanted me to write about with this theme, but I took the challenge head-on and started working on the project with grand plans of having it released in 2020.
Then Covid happened and everything ground to a halt. Everywhere. Anxiety, loss and devastation became rife globally and I began to see why God gave the title “Restored,” why 2021 was His time for its release and more importantly, what He wanted to say through this project. He wants to rekindle hope and restore faith in this season as we rebuild, restart and heal.
Restored has been written to bring this message home and the title track of the project - delivered in a stripped-back ballad - conveys this message so powerfully:
Now the battle’s won
New life has begun
You’ve restored my soul
You have made me whole
Each of the songs on the project have very interesting and unique stories behind them, and I will share just a few of them with you
You are my hiding place
My shield and The One
That saves
“Secure” is the lead single on the project and features my friend and fellow London-based worship leader, Volney Morgan. It is a reminder of the peace and safety we find in the shadow of God's wings.
This song was written in the most unconventional way - for me at least! I was out running and meditating one morning with my audio Bible plugged in, and was listening to the book of I Samuel which chronicled David’s experiences of being preserved from Saul and other foes.
As I visualised this, I was so moved that I immediately began singing the chorus and bridge of the song.
I didn’t even stop running, I whipped out my phone and recorded the rough idea, right there, mid-run!
David recounts these seasons of his life in many Psalms and even today, as we read those verses of Scripture we too can see how God on many occasions preserves us from all sorts of harm.
“SPIRIT COME”
‘Lord come and set our hearts on fire
Help us proclaim Your word with power’
“Spirit Come” is a beautifully crafted prayer of supplication and a cry for an outpouring of God’s spirit to bring healing to our world.
Back in February 2020 - just before everything went belly up - I was reading the book of Acts chapter 2 and reflecting on how the baptism of the Spirit launched the Apostles out into the world with boldness and power and brought about such a revival, that we are still living in its aftermath. I began to pray for such an outpouring over our generation and burst into song. ‘Spirit Come’ was birthed out of prayer and became the first single to be released from the album, with such a poignant message for the pandemic season of 2020.
It is my hope that the songs on the album Restored would help listeners make deeper connections with God and find renewed faith, hope and joy.
Multiple award winning singer/ songwriter, Sarah Téibo has been pushing the boundaries since her entry into the Gospel scene late 2015 with her debut single ‘Steal my Joy’ followed by her debut album ‘Walk with Me’ which earned her a MOBO nomination and multiple awards including the prestigious Premier Gospel Awards’ ‘Album of the Year’. Her sophomore album ‘Keep Walking’ also saw her top the Official Charts, making her the first female UK independent Gospel artist to do so. Sarah made headlines in the run-up to the release of her third studio album ‘Restored’ with two singles from the project - ‘Victory’ which peaked at Number 1 in the UK Christian Chart and ‘Secure’ which entered the Billboard Gospel Indicator Chart. Currently one of the UK’s top female gospel music artists and worship leaders, Sarah has travelled extensively within the UK, Europe, Africa and Australia leading worship and working with other singers including Grammy Award winning Gospel singer Fred Hammond who featured on her second album Keep Walking.