Amos Lee sits down with World Cafe for an acoustic performance of “No More Darkness, No More Light”

Philly singer-songwriter Amos Lee is gearing up to release his seventh studio album, My New Moon, next month, but he recently took the opportunity to showcase one of the forthcoming record’s singles in a new light. “No More Darkness, No More Light” appears on the album with soulful, twinkly arrangements and a steady groove, but becomes hushed and stripped-down in the solo, acoustic setting, allowing the listener to fully absorb Lee’s touching and heartfelt lyrics.

Shot on a farm near Charlottesville, VA for World Cafe, the woodsy setting proves to be the perfect backdrop for the poignant song, the final lyrics of which followed Lee’s reaction to the tragic Parkland shooting in February. When he went into the studio to record the song, it had taken on a different meaning than he’d originally planned.

Lee told Billboard the story behind the song’s rewrite:

“The day after Parkland happened, I was just like — as I think we all were and continue to be — overcome with what the kids were saying and what our history in the United States is and what I feel like some of our obligations to each other are, and I rewrote the whole song. I didn’t tell Tony (Berg) I did it, and I went in the next day and said, ‘I think I rewrote the song.’ So he ran the tape down and we did it, and … thank you to those kids for sharing their stories with us. Hopefully there’s some constructive feeling about this tragedy.”

My New Moon is out August 31 via Lee’s own Dualtone Records. Watch the video below.