Wow, OK, that got kind of dark. That’s on me. But we can lighten things right up with the anthemic folk-pop wattage of “LIGHT,” Autumn Nicholas’s new burst of fresh air. The singer-songwriter from Fort Bragg is no stranger to the Triangle, composing music for Durham company OM Grown Dancers. Recently she’s been in LA working on her second EP, from which “Light” is the first single.
The song begins with just Nicholas’s clear, darting voice and an acoustic guitar. Then it incandesces with dramatic Adele-like flourishes: ethereal harmonies, swelling strings, booming drops, a stadium-sized kick drum. As the arrangement builds higher and higher, Nicholas is always a step ahead, as if powered by the sheer conviction of her assurances about identity and belonging, which feel hard-won.