“Darkness and Light” is the fifth studio album by American singer John Legend. It’s his first album in three years, following the massive success of the No.1 hit, “All of Me,” and Oscar and Grammy wins for “Glory” from the film “Selma.”
The Grammy-winning singer and his wife Chrissy Teigen became parents together for the first time in April.
Along with fatherhood, Legend was inspired by themes of love and finding good in the face of adversity.
“Darkness and light was a thing that stuck out the most in this album. We have a song, the title track, that’s called that. But also, even the single, we talk about turning darkness into light, turning evil into good.
‘And we talk about uncertainty and troubles happening in the world and trying to find the light through those situations and trying to hold onto love and your loved ones through those situations.”
The crooner stays true to his soul and gospel roots on “Darkness,” while weaving in his signature pop inflections.
For the album’s lead single ““Love Me Now”“:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL_NP1mD0UQ the video features images of his wife and daughter, couples from a refugee camp in Northern Iraq and North Dakota’s Standing Rock Reservation, where members demonstrated against the Dakota Access pipeline.
When people say “what does protesting actually accomplish?” #NoDAPL https://t.co/j2gEoeRkH2— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 5, 2016
Another scene follows a survivor of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando.
“We went to Orlando, where the shooting happened, the biggest mass shooting in American history, I believe at the Pulse nightclub. And then we also featured a refugee camp in Iraq, one of the longest standing refugee camps there with some Syrian refugees. So again very different stories for each of those groups, but the message I believe is that even through all these challenges love is what kind of carries us through,” John Legend stressed.
“Darkness and Light” was released on December 2.
