earMUSICBlackmore’s Night, the Renaissance folk-rock group led by founding Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and his wife, singer Candice Night, will release its first new studio album in six years, Nature’s Light, on March 12, 2021.
The news comes on the heels of the band’s four-song holiday EP, Here We Come A-Caroling, which hit stores earlier this month.
In advance of the arrival of Nature’s Light, Blackmore’s Night has released the album’s lead track, “Once Upon December”, as a digital single and via streaming services. In addition, a lyric video for the tune has premiered at the band’s official YouTube channel. The clip takes the viewer on a journey through a snowy forest, sometimes being drawn by a dog sled.
The 10-track collection also features two instrumentals, as well as a new version of Swedish band Rednex‘s 2005 tune “Wish You Were Here,” which Blackmore’s Night originally covered on its 1997 debut album, Shadow of the Moon.
“The story of Nature’s Light is the story of nature being the true queen and the simplicity and magic of everyday miracles that happen right before your eyes,” Candice Night explains. “If you feel stagnant or repressed in your surroundings, it is important to take a break from the mundane and go where your heart leads you…For some it is the ocean, for some the woods, for some feeling the sun on your face.”
Nature’s Light, which can be pre-ordered now, is available on multiple formats, including a limited two-CD hardcover mediabook edition packaged with a bonus CD of tunes from the Blackmore’s Night back catalog, a CD digipak version, a limited yellow-vinyl LP, a standard black-vinyl LP and digitally.
Here’s the Nature’s Light track list:
“Once upon December”
“Four Winds”
“Feather in the Wind”
“Darker Shade of Black” (Instrumental)
“The Twisted Oak”
“Nature’s Light”
“Der Letzte Musketier” (Instrumental)
“Wish You Were Here (2021)”
“Going to the Faire”
“Second Element”
By Matt Friedlander
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.