Singer-songwriter Chris Gill Is from the north east town of Saltburn By The Sea, UK. He debuted in 2019 with the single “Libertad”, which was followed by “What You Have To Say” several months later. At the end of the same year Chris was determined to increase the momentum of his endeavors, and expand he reach. He began work on a full length album with his producer, which would eventually take twelve months to complete. “Into The Light” was successfully released on September 10th 2020. Straight off the cuff, Chris Gill’s songs have a remarkable specificity, so you really feel as if you’re hearing stories and experiences about a real person instead of some generic song written by a studio team.
We usually go about our daily lives without a clue as to how everyone else is doing. Whether they are happy or sad. Sometimes this is by design. Cruel and pragmatic perhaps. We cannot be bothered by the struggles and afflictions of others. Yet Chris Gill’s narratives has a way of drawing us into his personal experiences. And we can see our shared humanity in those moments.
The track list, which has been sequentially set to match Chris Gill’s emotional timeline, opens with a triad of sentimentally devastating tales – “Cold”, “Play With Fire” and “Goodbye”. On these songs, which come from a darker place in his life, Chris goes right for the gut with a sharp-ended knife, thrusting in an unrelenting ritual of purifying emotional soul-searching. The jangle of the guitars switch the tone on the quicker paced “Hard Times”.
The hardest thing for a songwriter to do is to write to their vocal strengths, so the emotions can come out in their tones and not just their words. Chris Gill finds the sweet spot of his voice in the higher registers, of probably the two strongest songs on the album – “Separate Ways” and “Father”. Chris is blessed with an unbelievable bounty of talent to entice the ears and awaken the spirit.
The two aforementioned songs are potent enough that they don’t need too much embellishing content to keep you entertained, and even when you walk away from them, they will still be playing in your head, and the emotions they conjure up, still vivid. The guitars crackle and crunch on “Meteorite”, driving a steady rhythm and an ear-catching tune, and the results are stellar.
“All That’s In-Between” is an acoustic driven number that sees Chris Gill’s voice dancing above twangy guitar and piano flourishes. This is a song where authenticity is paramount to its sonic impact. Regardless of the theme, there’s something in Chris’ voice that’s hauntingly honest, and lends itself perfectly to this song.
“What You Have To Say” ups the intensity ante, as Chris Gill turns on the grit in his voice to match the momentum ignited by the raw strummed guitars and banging drums. The album closes with Chris’ debut single, “Libertad”. Here Chris plays and sings with such conviction that the song takes on its own life.
The key to the success of the album – “Into The Light” – over and above the sublime vocals and organic sounding music, which moves between indie pop and rock, lies in Chris Gill’s ability to pull listeners into his songs and make them really feel as though they are a part of the story being unraveled before them.
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