Chris Kage Recruits Joe Jury For 'Leave The Light On'

10-08-2023

(MPG) Chris Kage announces the December 1 release of his new album Cycles, an exploration into the evolving path of identity through birth, life, death and rebirth. Along with the announcement he shares the debut single "Leave The Light On" featuring Joe Jury on lead vocals, a compelling song begging the listener to hang on for just one more moment.

"'Leave The Light On' is a moment of feeling at the end of one's road where you feel like you've almost lost your sense of identity and who you are completely," explains Kage. "At these times is when we most need a helping hand. I recalled one night while in a relationship where I felt completely broken, looking out at the moon that looked so beautiful, yet my heart felt so broken inside. It reminded me of a cycle I had been through previously where I felt abandoned by a loved one after having a manic or psychotic experience, and feeling similar crushing emotions of needing someone to show me a light at the end of the tunnel. It's at these moments we can all shed light on others that there is hope, and life does go on."

Chris Kage was born and raised in Los Angeles before moving to Brooklyn nearly a decade ago. Though he has primarily operated behind the scenes as a songwriter and backing musician touring with the likes of Micah, Lukas and Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Wax Owls, this new album finds him embracing his own sense of rebirth as he steps out of the shadows and into the forefront. Cycles was written and recorded almost entirely by Kage in his Brooklyn home studio, with his friends Joe Jury, J.O.Y and Langhorne Slim taking on lead vocal duties. This form of production and collaboration reflects Kage's own healing journey: going alone into the shadows to face and redefine oneself, but in the end calling on the support and influence of others to emerge anew.

Cycles also represents a sonic rebirth for Kage, who moves away from the Americana and country spaces he's lived in to explore more modern and alt-pop influences. With dark undertones and a melancholic sonic palette, the album's journey is propelled by uplifting vocals and melodies of hopeful exultation. The result is an at-once engaging and accessible cross-genre form of pop that grabs the listener musically while taking them somewhere deeper lyrically.

The need to confront the darker shadow parts of himself came full-force for Chris Kage when he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his mid-twenties. But rather than be destroyed by the struggle, he saw it as an inherent and necessary part of his human experience - one that he could alchemize into something beautiful to share with others. In 2019, he launched Sound Mind Live, a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster community, dialogue and action on mental health through the power of music. Kage explains, "With everything I've gone through with my mental health, I've come to understand that it goes beyond just the 'health' category-for me it's been more of a spiritual process, a human awakening. And my artistic output is about trying to emotionally and sensorily communicate the truths of my path in a way that can support others on theirs."

Tracklist
1. Birth
2. Up From The Shadows (ft. Joe Jury)
3. Into The River (ft. J.O.Y)
4. The Mentor
5. The Attraction (ft. Joe Jury)
6. Leave The Light On (ft. Joe Jury)
7. The Approach
8. Love And War (ft. Joe Jury)
9. We Stand Free (ft. Langhorne Slim)
10. Rebirth