Lilly MacPhee knows moments of heartbreak and disappointment are fleeting.

The Detroit singer-songwriter acknowledges those emotions and their ephemeral impact on her latest indie-folk single, “This Too Shall Pass.”

“It was the first song I had written when I moved back from Nashville, and it was an accumulation of everything I had been through over the years. When I was living in Nashville, my best friend Jackie [Pappas] and I would talk on the phone several times a day,” said MacPhee, who briefly relocated to Nashville in 2023.

“I would vent to her, or she would vent to me about something. But when I would vent to her, she would always say, ‘Lilly, this too shall pass,’ and it [stayed] with me. And then I thought, ‘That sounds like a song. Thank you, Jackie.’”

On “This Too Shall Pass,” MacPhee closes that difficult chapter and finds catharsis in family and friends. Comforted by serene acoustic guitar, she sings, “I kissed lips that spoke lies / Met grief eye to eye / Cried to the ones who cared / When silence was too much to bear.”

“Songwriting itself is like therapy—it’s how I view it. You get everything out and it makes you feel better. A song like that is bittersweet,” she said.

“You hope people don’t relate to it, but you’re OK if they do because it’s a comforting feeling for them to know that they’re not the only ones experiencing heartbreak, grief, or whatever else they might be going through in life.”

After moving forward on “This Too Shall Pass,” MacPhee offers hope and reassurance to others facing similar struggles on “Light On (Waiting for You).”

Backed by determined acoustic guitar, she sings, “Let go / Everything you’ve ever known / Trust fall / Take my hand, feel it all / I know movin’ on / Easier said than done / You’re not foolin’ anyone.”

“That’s inspired by a lot of ‘90s and early 2000s music I’ve been listening to lately. The lyrics and the message behind it are being there for somebody when they’re going through something dark,” said MacPhee, who’s influenced by Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries.

“Maybe they’re sad or there’s something in their life that makes them unable to see the light, so you’re right there with them. I hope when people hear that song, they know that they’re not alone.”

MacPhee also expresses shared heartache and acceptance on “The One,” an epiphanic ode to better understanding a breakup.

Surrounded by ethereal strings and pulsating drums, she sings, “As the years pass by / I’m the one you let go / Have I always been / Haunting you like a ghost / In every movie you see / Every song you may sing / I’m the one that got away / And I’m the one, the one who would’ve / Stayed, stayed.”

“You always hear that [phrase], ‘the one that got away,’ so I took that and wrote it from the perspective of me being the one that got away,” MacPhee said.

“I was processing things that I had been through and bits and pieces that other people had been through. That whole song was pieced together like a puzzle … into one song.”

As a prolific songwriter, MacPhee spent time finalizing her three latest songs before taking two of them, “This Too Shall Pass” and “The One,” into the studio last year, while “Light On (Waiting for You)” was recorded at home.

“‘This Too Shall Pass’ and ‘The One’ were songs that I had written quickly, and for ‘Light On (Waiting for You),’ the melody I had in my head and I had the beginning part of the chorus. That one took a little longer for me to write—probably a few weeks—before it all pieced together,” she said.

“The recording for ‘This Too Shall Pass’ and ‘The One’ went fairly quickly. It took about a month to produce and record each track and then have each one mixed and mastered.”

MacPhee also brings her growing catalog of music to local stages throughout Michigan. She performs every other Thursday and Saturday as part of two residencies, one at Zerbo’s Market & Bistro in Commerce Township and another at Goomah in Sylvan Lake.

“I have found a lot of joy in being able to bring music to people whatever they’re doing that night—whether they’re on a date or at a work meeting or a corporate event—because you never know what [they’re] going through. Music always helps people feel better,” said MacPhee, who performs sets of covers and originals during her residencies.

In addition to her residencies, MacPhee is performing March 8 at 20 Front Street in Lake Orion. She’s opening for Detroit country-hop-and-roll artist Louie Lee.

“I’m going to do an all-original set, and then I’m going to do older songs and newer songs, but also some unreleased songs,” MacPhee said. “It’s a combination of everything.”

After this weekend’s 20 Front Street show, MacPhee is preparing for an April 25 Corktown Music Festival set at the Gaelic League of Detroit. She also has plans for new music later this year.

“I’m going to start the recording process in the spring once the weather clears,” she said. “In the meantime, I’m doing acoustic recordings for music libraries for sync licensing. It’s a big dream of mine to do sync licensing, especially since I got my songs, [‘Christmas With You’ and ‘Empty Seat’], in the Hallmark movie, Cupid’s Christmas, last year.”

Lilly MacPhee performs March 8 at 20 Front Street in Lake Orion, Michigan. For tickets, visit 20 Front Street’s website.