Rising Singer-Songwriter AJ Wander Releases "Blue Lights"
Growing up as the son of a pianist father, English singer-songwriter AJ Wander had music in his genes from an early age. Varying instruments were scattered around his childhood home in the suburbs of south-east London - a musical landscape that inspired a young AJ to sing, play and eventually to write.
AJ’s debut single, “Time Out,” was written soon after an explosive breakup and represents the moment that AJ realised he had to let his first love go. The single has garnered over 4 million streams in just over one year. “Time Out” has been added to official Spotify playlists such as Home Again and Fresh Finds Pop.
Today he releases the emotional narrative “Blue Lights”. It is one of several tracks AJ recorded in London and Barcelona with Barcelona-based song-writer and producer Brad Mair (Dean Lewis, Jamie Cullum, Kygo) which will culminate in his first EP due in late 2022. AJ confides on the release, “I wrote ‘Blue Lights’ after seeing someone overdose opposite my old flat. The song is me hoping that he still has a spark of hope left, that it was just a call for help.”
While his songs tackle relational pain literally, they are uplifting and not despairing. They carry a more cinematic, inspiring quality that stays with the listener in the truest sense of pop traditions and perfectly showcasing his style as an artist. AJ’s emotionally engaging tenor and melodic piano riffs provide a warmth and depth rarely seen from a young songwriter.
“The songs I write mean the world to me. There would be nothing more amazing than to see them mean something to others too.”
The forthcoming EP “definitely plots out the course of a breakup and its aftermath,” AJ says of these tracks. “It’s me reasoning with myself, working out why it happened, justifying it, and trying to understand it. Self-therapy through music - a way of me dealing with my emotions.”