Deep Dive: Aerynn – Light With You

British singer-songwriter – and astrophysicist! – Aerynn caught our attention with her most recent single Light With You. We asked her to tell us more about the track as part of our Deep Dive feature. If you like Eva Cassidy, Ane Brun, or Diana Krall, be sure to read on!

Genesis of the song and lyrics

Most songs come at 4 in the morning with no plan. However, I wrote Light With You rather formulaically and with a deadline. There was a particular performance-based song-writing contest I wanted to enter some years ago as a little self-challenge. I started with the intro riff on the piano. The chorus lyric is borrowed from a very, very, old text, but as I read it, I heard the melody already. 

A true story from my life inspired the verse – an encounter that helped me to see that there was a path forward out of a toxic and dangerous situation, and in a larger sense, connecting the mundane with the expansive. The bridge was the last part to be written, and it was a bit of an editing battle, but I enjoy writing lyrics where the last word of one line is the first word of the next! 

Instrumentation and recording

I worked with Mark Winterburn to produce my upcoming album titled See In The Dark, and Light With You was one of Mark’s favourites from this record. We recorded in between lockdowns, laying down a core of acoustic guitar and vocals using Mark’s portable studio at a decommissioned old church in Macclesfield. Mark thought cello would work well, so we asked Lili Holland-Fricke to record a few cello takes over the song from her own home. 

I’ve still never met Lili, though she recorded on three or four songs, and with Macclesfield being a small town, it turns out that I know Lili’s mum! I then recorded bass, keyboard, and backing vocals, whilst Mark added some electric guitar and synth/pad/programming each at our own home studios to dramatise and widen the sound.

Recording at the church was entertaining at times – no running water, no loos, no kitchen, and very cold at times!! During our session, a couple of people wandered in mid-vocal take and wanted a tour, and were a bit disappointed that they couldn’t get one. I felt bad and took a break, inviting them back in to look around, but they were so offended they didn’t want to come in. After that I made sure to latch the door! Post-covid, we had a chance to run everything over analog tape and rough it up a bit, which I dig.

Making the video

We are actually filming the video next week, which is really exciting!! Phil Wattis, who created the music video for Gift (released last month), is working with me again for the Light With You video.  The Light With You cover art that I sketched is a hint to one theme from the video concept.

Where does this particular track fit within your wider body of work?

Light With You is part of my upcoming album, See In The Dark, and is one of the rather positive, hope-filled, cinematic songs in the project, following previous single, Gift. Other songs on the record include Americana/folk/acoustic flavours echoing previous releases (Four Places, and Summer Leaves EP), as well as dramatic, dark, more intense and at times heavier songs stemming from my alt-rock background. 

What are you up to in the coming months?

Over the next couple months, I’ll be planning and rehearsing my album launch concert for See In The Dark, as well as a few shows further afield! We’ll also be rolling out another single and then releasing See In The Dark in digital and CD formats, and perhaps a special edition vinyl release as well. I’ll also be starting new work in my previous sector of Astrophysics, so that will stir things up a bit! 

For news on the album launch, and to learn more about Aerynn, head over to her Instagram and Facebook socials. Light With You and Gift, along with the rest of Aerynn’s back catalogue, can be streamed on Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify.