Finnish blues rock & slide guitarist Erja Lyytinen has released the third single taken from her just released ninth studio album Waiting For The Daylight, on Tuohi Records.
“‘Waiting For The Daylight’ starts with a big guitar riff,” said Lyytinen. “The intro leads to an airy verse and the choruses are quite heavy and dramatic. The heavy guitar riff that repeats throughout the song. I played two guitar solos on the end of the song in the style of Tony Iommi to create tension towards the end.
“Recording this song was emotional experience for me. I was playing the solo for my friend who died because of a long-term illness. I also poured a lot of the pandemic frustration on this one, so the track became very passionate. In the lyrics, this beautiful creature comes to you on your last day to release you from your earthy pains. The story has a bit of that chivalry romance in some way. We filmed the music video also on the beautiful castle of Raasepori in Finland.
“My band does an amazing job on the track, with Tatu Back on bass, Iiro Laitinen on drums and Harri Taittonen on Hammond,” she added. “I also dusted off my violin and played violin tracks to the end of the song. There´s a lot of layers in this blues rock piece!”
You can check out the video here at RAMzine.
The last two years have been a period of reflection and soul searching for many due to covid. With time on her hands, Lyytinen felt she was able to pause, dig deep and fully process her feelings. Some of which she had been carrying for a long time. This journey of self-exploration proved to be a source of inspiration for her new album.
Carrying on from the guitarist’s last two studio albums, Stolen Hearts, and Another World, respectively, Lyytinen continues to explore themes such as love, loss, heartbreak, and sometimes even revenge. Events transpiring around the world occasionally fed into the storyboard of Lyytinen’s song writing.
The album was recorded during the first half of 2022, between her touring schedule, with the bulk of the sessions taking place at The Hollywood House in Helsinki, where she was joined by long-standing bass player Tatu Backand drummer Iiro Laitinen. Having played on every one of her albums since 2008, HarriTaittonen features once again on Hammond and keyboard.
Waiting For The Daylight illustrates a new chapter in Lyytinen’s musical and artistic trajectory. The album was proudly produced by her, and subsequently, simultaneously it explored sounds on the periphery of the blues-rock genre.
The full track listing is: ‘Bad Seed’, ‘Last Girl’, ‘Run Away’, ‘Waiting For The Daylight’, ‘Never Really Had You’, ‘Diamonds On The Road’, ‘You Talk Dirty’, ‘Love Bites’ and ‘The End of Music’.
You can also check out the video for previous single, ‘Last Girl’ here at RAMzine.
“’Last Girl’ deals with the subject of bullying in schools and the feeling of being left out of a friendship group, said Lyytine. “This song is for those who feel as if they are outsiders, which is a current topic as the new school year is about to start. A lot is happening in the song, and it is quite intense and energetic, just like the school world is.
“Making the music video for ‘Last Girl’ felt essential because it’s such an important topic to me. A young girl features in the music video, and at the end, she is playing an electric guitar with me as part of the group and having a good time. The song speaks out on many levels.”
“It was fascinating to create guitar parts for ‘Last Girl’, Lyytinen continued, discussing her own musical development. “It has some vibes from rock bands like Iron Maiden, but I also wrote twin-part guitar harmonies to the C part in the style of an Allman Brothers Band. I wanted to create a song with an old classic rock feel but executed with modern sounds and techniques.
“The intro has pull-offs and some fast licks and flute notes combined which creates the main guitar theme for the whole song. This song has probably one of the most challenging guitar parts I have written so far.”
‘Last Girl’ is available to stream and buy on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music via this link and Waiting For The Daylight is available to pre-order from here.
Erja Lyytinen heads out on a co-headline UK tour with the award-winning Belfast-based blues guitarist Dom Martin and tickets are available from here and here.
