Video: Afterlight “Spotlight”

Thea Gilmore. Photo by: Carsten Windhorst

Afterlight is the artist known previously as Thea Gilmore.  With nineteen acclaimed albums released under that name, Afterlight is like Gilmore’s rebirth as a musician.  It is not so much that she is moving in a new direction musically but rather that her life has been transformed as she emerges from the shadow of a coercive relationship, in which she had felt trapped since her teenage years.  Gilmore’s debut album as Afterlight is an intensely powerful, emotional experience, beginning with the beautifully lyrical spoken-word ‘Of All the Violence I Have Known’.  That title alone is an insight into Afterlight’s deeply personal, intimate songwriting.

Afterlight explains: The saddest thing to me is that my story is a drop in the ocean.  These issues that I’m dealing with are being dealt with by millions every second. This kind of coercion, this kind of narrowing of a life by someone else, this theft of self is everywhere.  In my case, I was so young, it was all I’d ever known so I had no concept of what freedom from that control felt like until I finally managed to get away. Now, with every day that passes I get further from those boundaries that were set for me. I see what functional relationships both working and personal, based on equity and respect actually look like. I mourn for the 16-year-old in many ways and now I’m trying to figure out who I am without those walls.  It’s a long process that I’m only just at the beginning of.”

The latest single from the forthcoming album is ‘Spotlight’, a hauntingly melodic piece.  Through the gorgeous vocal tune, Afterlight delivers emotive, piercing words, full of symbols and images: “Here’s a razor wire kiss // A murderous love song // To help find my way out of this.”  Check it out.

About Andrew Frolish 1403 Articles
From up north but now hiding in rural Suffolk. An insomniac music-lover. Love discovering new music to get lost in - country, singer-songwriters, Americana, rock...whatever. Currently enjoying Nils Lofgren, Ferris & Sylvester, Tommy Prine, Jarrod Dickenson, William Prince, Frank Turner, Our Man in the Field...
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