“Love, Shine”, the new single from Erene Mastrangeli, was released on April 30th on all digital platforms via Beige Records.
When Italian singer-songwriter Erene Mastrangeli heard the news of the tragic mass shooting at Pulse nightclub, in Orlando, Florida on June 12th, 2016, time stopped and devastation set in. At the time, what had taken place at Pulse was the deadliest shooting in U.S. history, and it targeted her community–the LGTBQ community–directly, fatally and intentionally.
She was practicing for a show when she heard the news.
She stopped everything. She didn’t know what to do with herself, but she felt like a hole had opened up in the center of her body: like something had gone missing.
She felt the sudden loss of 49 innocent lives, people she didn’t know personally but who she felt were a part of her family. She eventually went back to the guitar because that’s the way she processes her feelings, and started playing a riff that became the guitar intro of “Love, Shine.”
“Love, Shine” is the title track of Erene’s new album, due out later this year. The song informed the rest of the album and it marked a huge shift in Erene’s writing. “I believe that ‘Love, Shine’ came to me to give me a specific mission: to nurture love in people’s hearts and defeat hatred, racism, discrimination and inequality through music,” says Mastrangeli.
A phenomenon that was paused only by a global pandemic, mass shootings have reemerged in Atlanta and Boulder, just to name a few. “This song can’t wait any longer to be released,” she said. After these last two incidents, Erene Mastrangeli set a date to release “Love, Shine” as the third single of the record.
At first you may hear echoes of songwriters from the 70s in Mastrangeli’s music. It’s not an accident that she was nicknamed the ‘Italian Joni Mitchell’ during the recording of the album while recording in Rome.
But half way into this song it’s clear that it has Erene’s unmistakable stamp on it through and through.
Her unique use of harmonies and chord progressions creates infectious and distinctive sounds, perfectly suited to deliver such a powerful message with a seductive tenderness.
The anguish of her plea to stop gun violence and end the massacre of life is marked by an insistent drum beat in the verse.
The plea finds an uplifting and glorious resolution in the chorus where she invokes LOVE to come over us humans and shine bright.
The bridge builds majestically up to the last chorus with her backing vocals and electric guitars played by her formidable producer, Daniele Sinigallia. Recorded by renowned musicians she met in Rome during an extended stay in her native land, this song is Erene Mastrangeli’s presentation to the world not just as an artist but also as an activist, operating on the intention to contribute to world peace and defeat discrimination, hatred, racism and inequality.
“Love, Shine” is available everywhere music is sold or streamed.
Listen on Spotify
