“There are going to be a lot of singles coming and music coming.”
It’s moment practically every EDM enthusiast is waiting for: The yield of ILLENIUM at his best, releasing a sneak peak of his fourth studio album using its lead one, “Nightlight” featuring Annika Wells.
Out today via 12Tone, ILLENIUM’s new record label, “Nightlight” is stunningly emotive. Wells’ ethereal vocal tone reverberates through the track’s stunning future bass drops, further reinforcing ILLENIUM’s dominance over the genre. With “Nightlight,” he also continues in the vein of his previous LP, ASCEND, by incorporating rock elements, such as strong percussion and guitar melody lines. At the same time, the track hearkens back to his roots with production techniques reminiscent of his earlier work, like his debut album, Ashes, dubbed by ILLENIUM an “angelic ooze.”
“It’s love song, and it’s peaceful love song, where you’re from the dim going through shit, and you’ve got someone that’s your light at the end of the tube, a way out,” ILLENIUM told EDM.com. “And there’s some news of perhaps some life returning next year or something like this, and this particular audio translates to some excitement from this, giving some more life to individuals who are working at this time.”
To celebrate the release of “Nightlight,” we chatted with ILLENIUM about what inspired the spellbinding single, the creative process behind his new album and the determination it took to launch a new chapter in his storied music career.
EDM.com: Let’s just kick it off with your new record. Tell me a bit about its process.
ILLENIUM: So I stopped touring in February, and it was an interesting time because I wasn’t really able to work on music at all six months prior. I haven’t really taken a break like that musically since I started, so I felt I had more inspiration and more creative juices flowing than I’ve ever had.
I was going so hard, just loving the music I was creating. “Nightlight” is very much that. I was sent a very, very, very demo vocal, and I was just like, “Holy crap, this really took away from everything and was just a kind of escape. ” I was really excited to just start working from that vocal. And then I got really excited about the breakdown, with that angelic ooze. I started the song with the intro and then started working on that. That just inspired me to make a really powerful drop, but it’s got a really in your face melody. It all just came together really fast.
EDM.com: What was that like, going from touring so long to suddenly doing the complete opposite?
ILLENIUM: By the end of the Ascend tour in Australia, I was pretty burnt out. I still loved it and I would have been able to keep going, but I had just finished a trilogy, Ashes, Awake and ASCEND, and I didn’t know creatively what I wanted to do next. Because I loved the theme of the phoenix rising, what happens next in the life cycle of that?
This album might not be a trilogy, but it’s a new phase of ILLENIUM. Once I figured it out, I was like, “Oh shit, this is fucking cool,” and that inspired me to be like, “Okay, let’s just go from here. Let’s just make the music I love. ” And once I started, for a month there it was like song, song, song and I was really feeling it.
Throughout ASCEND and even Awake, touring got crazy and I would come home and think, “Okay, you have three days and I need a song. ” You can’t force creativity, so if those three days aren’t awesome, I feel like I’m falling behind. It’s hard, and it isn’t what making music is supposed to be. I love the music I created still, but this time, it’s straight up what I love. If I don’t love it, I’m not going to make it. And there’s no pressure to make anything right now.
EDM.com: What elements of this new music are resonating with you?
ILLENIUM: I think being able to reflect on the crazy shows that have happened makes me bring the feeling of a show closer into my studio by myself, just imagining what it’s going to be like when I get to go back. That has been a huge inspiration. I can’t wait to sing these lyrics with thousands of people. I’ll make a song and it’ll be 5AM, and I’ll listen to it with that mindset and it’s like, “This is exactly what I feel like people are gonna love. ” And I love it, too. It’s cool.
EDM.com: I’m curious what those “crazy shows” were.
ILLENIUM: I definitely think of Red Rocks and Madison Square Garden. Just that wall of people surrounding me, that was so special about this last tour, getting to play arenas. Festivals are just a sea of people, which is sick, but when you headline an arena, it’s enclosed and there are people there just to sing and rage. One thing I wish I could do is just go attend one of these shows–like my own show. I’ve never gotten to just straight up attend it – which is an impossible thing because I have to play it. But it’s one thing I’ve been kind of reflecting on. I wish I could actually go experience it myself.
EDM.com: Going back to”Nightlight,” I believed the track sounded very rock-influenced, very similar to ASCEND.
ILLENIUM: Totally. The audio I’m producing today is a total blend of my previous melody-focused EDM using rock, coming out of the guitar and drums I started to add. I really like that it’s more impactful than simply a rock song, though. It has more sound and more intricacies, however it’therefore not only a synth or simply a super soft, future bass atmosphere. It gives me a new sort of feeling which I haven’t heard that far. It’s pretty exciting because I feel like I sort of exhausted that the super tender, straight future bass sound, and I was looking for something new. I think “Good Things Fall Apart” put the tone for this sound I really love.
EDM.com: Was it scary to make that leap initially, understanding your supporters really are such big fans of bass?
ILLENIUM: I have a massive EDM fanbase, but I feel like as long as I don’t only abandon that and start making direct pop, the songs which are coming out of me are extremely far me and very much still stay true to this. Even “Nightlight” comes with an Ashes atmosphere, where it has that driving tune which I strayed from in Awake and ASCEND.
EDM.com: And with ldquo;Nightlight,” the lyrics are also so personal. Does that result in mind anybody who has been a “nightlight” previously?
ILLENIUM: It’s love song, and it’s peaceful love song, where you’re from the dim going through shit, and you’ve got someone that’s your light at the end of the tube, a way out.
My connection with Lara, for you, was awesome. I’m in this phase where I get to really spend some time at home with Peanut and Lara, experiencing a different facet of myself. I really feel as Lara’therefore rock in my life with respect to being able to go on the street, however also go home and have a life I could see potentially after songs. I don’t understand how long songs ’s going to last, however it’s very peaceful to understand ’s there, either life, either manner.
EDM.com: Are there any musicians that also have this inviting effect on you personally?
ILLENIUM: Trevor, Said the Sky, has consistently been. We’ve been in the studio longer, and it seems like when I started. It’s pretty cool because when you get started making music you get addicted to it, and if I’m working with Trevor it’s only very exciting to get into the studio rather than being a bit worried. I’ve been very grateful for the moment, for right now. It’s really nice to have been residing in the present time.
EDM.com: Do you find that translates into generating more on your own?
ILLENIUM: Oh yeah, for sure. I feel like more so than ever. I’m not actually pursuing a pop hit at this time. If one occurs, this ’s pretty tight, but I only want to create music that’therefore likely to crush the very first show I come back, and be like, “Holy shit, it’s back on, let’s fucking go. ”
EDM.com: What on your own relocation to 12Tone this season? How has that affected your creative management?
ILLENIUM: The folks at 12Tone are very special because theyrsquo;re lovers. That only creates so much liberty and excitement for me to talk about tunes with Steve, the mind, and send him things and tell him the story for this. When you’re in the major label scheme there are some people that definitely support you and so are lovers of you, but the device can be, “Is this going to hit? Is this going to work? And right now, I have people that are going to grind just because they love it. And that’s something that’s truly special.
EDM.com: What can we expect from you in the future?
ILLENIUM: The concentration at this time is working on a system of work and getting songs together. There are going to be a lot of singles and songs coming. And there’s some news of possibly some life returning next year or something like this, and this particular audio translates to some excitement from this, providing some additional life to individuals who are working at this time.
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