Artist: John Dennis
Hometown: Freeburg, Illinois
Song: “First Light”
Album: Mortal Flames
Release Date: January 31, 2020
Label: Rainfeather Records
In Their Words: “This tune is my own version of a creation myth. Because the whole record is intended to tell a larger chronological story, I wanted to set up the ‘mortal flames’ idea by challenging myself to imagine my own poetic version of existence coming to be. The idea that resonated most with me was all life being a part of one great, harmonious (and sometimes cacophonous) song and dance; and its fundamental ‘meaning’ is to continually experience the wonder of itself. (‘Each given a freedom and time to make up their own meaning for this life, When really they were merely born to see, to shine first light.’)
“There are a multitude of stories and myths we can all inhabit, but, as someone who can get consumed and paralyzed by existential questioning, it gave me peace to think that, at the very bottom of it all, I’m fulfilling a ‘purpose’ just by being. These themes get explored throughout the record, but if you listen closely after the final song, you’ll hear the whistling motif from ‘First Light’ again, which was meant to signify the cyclical nature of life — the constant rising and falling, creation and destruction, darkness into light back into darkness.
“It’s also worth noting that I was listening to a lot of Paul Simon when I wrote this — specifically The Rhythm of the Saints and So Beautiful or So What records.” — John Dennis
Photo credit: Kristin Indorato
