The world is a mysterious place – especially these days – and we need art and great music to help us make sense of it all. Toronto-based alt-rock/pop songwriter Jon Stancer is helping us do just that with the release of his 6-song EP ‘In Light Of,’ which delves into the emotional fallout of living in these perilous and trying times.
To mark the release of the EP last week, Stancer unveiled the music video for “In Light Of Everything,” the album’s title track. Oozing an abstract melancholia that recalls Radiohead with its ethereal synth textures, sublime minor-key melodies, and its slowly unfolding arrangement, Stancer describes the video for “In Light Of Everything” as an appraisal of emotional extremes - “Darkness and light, stagnation and progress, confusion and clarity, anxiety and euphoria,” he explains. “The character on the train is going through it all, and all at once, and everything is apparently coming to a head.” “In Light Of” follows the release of “These Arms (Won’t Let You Go),” a plaintive ode to loss of childhood innocence, and “This Cannot Wait (Until Tomorrow)” a “poignant plea to act fast on climate change,” which was released along with a very startling and provocative video, back in August.
We spoke with Stancer about his new EP, the influences we hear throughout his music, and how the strange experience of these past two years impacted his songwriting. Check out our conversation below, and be sure to check out ‘In Light Of’ on all digital platforms today.
Jon, congratulations on your new release! ‘In Light Of’ covers a broad range of heavy topics: mental illness, relational strife, general disillusionment, etc. Has the process of composing and releasing this material helped you work through some of the internal questions you were grappling with on the album?
Thank you very much.
I think so. Certainly, that process can help towards developing a clearer understanding or perspective on things, because you’re devoting time and energy to acknowledging and expressing whatever thoughts and emotions, rather than suppressing or burying them. It’s a form of therapy. Or at least, it can be.
Tell us a little bit about the writing and recording process of ‘In Light Of.’ What is your writing process like? What do you find inspiration from?
I wanted to try writing differently than I had in the past. I was conscious of song structure and thought to change that up a little from what I’d done previously. I opted not to sit with a guitar and write music and lyrics together, as I had before. I wrote as I recorded, just music first, mostly on a keyboard, tracking whatever progressions I liked or felt had some promise. I would edit pieces together and omit sections that weren’t working. I’d then overdub other tracks on top - a drum pattern, a bass part, maybe a string line… I had full-blown arrangements for most of the songs before I had any lyrics for them.
A few months into the pandemic, I started taking long walks. I would listen back to demos as I walked, and hum or sing to them and jot down whatever words or ideas came to mind. I’d come back, and try fleshing some of those ideas out…
Inspiration can come from just about anywhere or anything. But it seems lately, a prime motivation has been outrage. “This Cannot Wait”, “One.Six” and other recent songs of mine such as ‘Chase the Moon” and “Not far From the Truth” were all conceived out of feelings of disbelief, frustration and a tinge of angst.
We hear a broad range of influences on the new EP, from Radiohead to Elliot Smith. Who are some of your biggest creative inspirations outside of music?
Samuel Beckett, Andy Kaufman, Agatha Christie, Banksy.
We loved the way you incorporated your own home movies into the video for “These Arms (Won’t Let You Go).” If your kids could take away one message from your recent release, what would you hope it to be?
Thank you.
We live in confounding times. Proceed thoughtfully.
How has the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns impacted you as an artist and as a father?
I think the pandemic altered my state a little and caused me to zone in on certain things that were happening with added scrutiny, which invariably informed what I wound up writing about. As a father, it gave me a lot of extra time with my kids, for which I am very grateful, and it forced me to recognize as they get older, that the everyday, intimate, quality time with them that I’ve been used to and enjoying all of these years, is fleeting.
What’s next for you in 2022?
I’m writing and I hope to be able to do some recording in the next few months and then we’ll see. Maybe another record at some point. I’m not really planning all that far ahead these days.
