If you are looking for some great new music to help you unwind after your undoubtedly crazy Christmas shopping trips (and we made that plural because we already know that you will have to make more than one trip…) then John Legend has you covered with his latest release, “Darkness and Light”. The album is the fifth of its kind from the American crooner and it was released on the 2nd December through Columbia Records and GOOD Music.
While the album features his incredible singles, “Love Me Now,” “Penthouse Floor,” and, “I Know Better,” the stand-out track is definitely a song called, “Right By You (For Luna),” which Legend recently revealed the inspiration behind. Get ready to melt.
The singer confessed that the song itself was his favourite off of the new album as it was written for his eight-month-old daughter, Luna, who he welcomed back in April with his model wife Chrissy Teigen. He said, “When I played it for her and Chrissy for the first time, I just started crying because it felt so real to me and it felt so appropriate for how I feel now as a new father.”
“New parents have questions more than they have answers and that’s what we wanted the song to reflect. You know, will you live like me? Will you look like me? Will you have your mother’s fire? Will you think like me?” He then added, speaking of the ballad which we’re not going to lie bought tears to our eyes when we first heard it.
But sweet baby Luna isn’t the only big inspiration on the album as the entire body of work is reflective of John and Chrissy’s passionate and utterly adorable relationship. In a new interview, the singer said that the whole theme of the album is, “the idea that there is trouble and darkness in the world, and there is uncertainty, but we have light. We have love in our lives that we hold on to. That’s why we named our daughter Luna. It is literally the moon and the light in the darkness.”
To aid him in the making of the album Legend recruited Alabama Shakes’ producer Blake Mills who also did an interview recently with Rolling Stone, in which he stated that the new record, “digs into John’s long-standing devotion to social justice, the challenges and rewards of a marriage constantly in the public eye, and the birth of his first child, Luna. It goes against the grain, boldly reminding us that even though darkness is abound, it is the light that will ultimately push us forward.”
Legend hopes that his deep passion for social justice translates to his daughter, stating, “I want her to know that she is in a privileged place but that there are lots of people who are less privileged. I want her to know where I come from and where her mother comes from. We both came from working-class families that didn’t always have it easy and I want her to be grateful for what she has, but also to be kind and considerate and giving… I want her to be aware of what is happening in the world.”
“Darkness and Light,” also features duets with Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, Chance the Rapper, and Miguel. If all of this doesn’t persuade you to buy at least ten copies of the album and then to have them on repeat until John Legend’s next album is released, then we don’t know what will.
You can buy, “Darkness and Light,” on iTunes right here, and you can stream it on Spotify below.
What is your favourite song on the album? Let us know on Twitter, at @CelebMix.