Last month, UK artist Jade Bird released the title track from her upcoming sophomore album, Different Kinds of Light. Touching on the give-and-take of a relationship, “Different Kinds of Light” was a melancholy introduction to the themes of the album, its sweet and steady tones gently guiding us through. As Jade references the title in the chorus of the song, “Who’s gonna make you feel beautiful under different kinds of light?” we knew that the album was going to follow suit of this beautifully tragic question.
For her second single from Different Kinds of Light, Jade has stepped out of the shadows and into the light. Her voice valiantly sails over uplifting guitar chords on “Now is the Time,” filling us with a sense of purpose and wonder. She sings, “If I had a penny for all your potential, I’d be left drowning in my mouthful of metal,” and points out that life is too short to be turning the TV “on and off again.” The message of the track is especially meaningful and relevant as to what is happening today, as more people are venturing back out into the world and taking up opportunities that they were not able to claim during the pandemic.
Since the release of her debut album in 2019, Jade has changed the way she writes her material, mentioning, “When you’re young, you sit in a chaos of emotions and desperately try to write out of it, but when you’re older, you work out what’s affected you and why more clearly. It’s amazing what two years can do: it’s like you’re writing as you’re watching instead of writing to see.” Jade applied this method as she worked on Different Kinds of Light, sharing that the album is about “being with somebody who you adore more than the whole world that hasn’t got the foundations to believe in themselves, hasn’t had people supporting them in a way that their potential can be realized.” We cannot wait to hear the rest of the observations she has made when the album drops on August 13.
You can listen to “Now is the Time” on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
Pre-order Different Kinds of Light here.
Catch Jade Bird on tour here and at All Points East on August 30th.
Keep up with Jade Bird: Instagram // Twitter // Facebook // Website
