Here is the video premiere of ‘We All Need Love’ by Illinois singer-songwriter Ashley Riley. Featuring beautifully fluid piano and a gorgeous vocal melody, it’s a heartfelt and emotional song that draws in the listener. Lyrically, it’s intimate, raw and honest, full of powerful lines and images: “Some birds they don’t fly // Some hearts don’t feel love, but we all need love.” The universal message of love resonates with everyone and possesses a particular power when we see Riley performing, lost in the music, in this live recording.
Riley shared the story behind the song exclusively with AUK: “‘We All Need Love’ is a pretty emotional song. It’s about people in our lives whom we know and love who struggle from time to time with depression and overwhelm. This song is my way of saying, ‘I’m here for you, even from afar, if that’s what you need.’ Musically, it stands out on my latest album, because it’s a piano song, which is a bit of an anomaly for me. I normally write on acoustic guitar. I wrote ‘We All Need Love’ while I was in Nashville staying at my friend Sarah’s house. She has a beautiful piano and had to make a quick run to the grocery store, so I was just hanging out, left to my own devices, and I sat down at her piano and worked this out. It was one of those songs where the melody and chords came pretty easily, but I had to work a bit for the lyrics. I wrote a song years ago that never got recorded but had the line, “Two birds that don’t fly,” and I really loved that line, so I revived it for the chorus. When it came to recording it, I worked with James Treicher, and we really wanted to do a slow build all the way through and have it really open up at the end, but for this video we just met at Millitrax here in Decatur, IL where I live, and I played it live with two cameras rolling.”
‘We All Need Love’ is taken from ‘Set You Free’, the brand new album released over the summer. It’s an album full of authentic feeling and sensitivity. With lines like: “I know it meant more to me, and I’m setting you free,” from the title track, full of weary resignation and heart, Riley makes a real connection with the audience. This is finely crafted music – check it out.
Ashley is my sister-in-law. I have never really been a fab of her music. But I just listened to ‘We All Need Love’ and watched the video. I’ve got Ashley’s first album. I think her husband, my younger brother, Joe, sent it to me as a gift. I didn’t really like the style of music so I never even listened to it again after the first time. But this song, ‘We All Need Love’ spoke volumes to me and I love it. Thank you, Ashley, for sharing this song with the world.