Gabrielle Aplin Lights Up

The 22-year-old British singer/songwriter Gabrielle Aplin, who racked up major YouTube views with her acoustic covers, will release her first U.S. album, Light Up the Dark, on September 18th. “I’m a bit delirious with cabin fever. We’ve all been in a rehearsal room for weeks,” said Aplin, who was in London preparing for her upcoming tour.

The record is a collaboration with Luke Potashnick (the guitarist for the band Temperance Movement), who co-wrote most of the songs. “In January we decided to do a trial period in his home studio for a few days,” Aplin said. “I had no idea I would spend the rest of the year there!”

The catchy, soulful tracks were inspired by a road trip to Reno that Aplin took a few years ago, as well as by the music scene in LA’s Laurel Canyon in the 60s and 70s. “Studying the music from that period opened up doors for me,” she said, citing Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young as key influences. “Those musicians were writing about things that mattered globally as opposed to just themselves. I realized I don’t just have to write about my ex boyfriend or why I was sad last week, but about things that matter.”