Nick Hudson and Kianna Blue of The Academy of Sun released a new single on Friday that will benefit Ukrainian Red Cross Society and Razom for Ukraine.
“Lights Svoboda” is a handsom piece of alt-pop featuring Hudson on piano, voice, Faemi M1 and melodica. Blue adds bass and backing vocals.
The track opens with a recording Hudson captured in Georgia, the former Soviet Republic, of a 20-year-old friend. “I had him say ‘freedom, hope and truth’ in Russian,” he explains in the publicity email. “He’s headed to join the Ukrainian army this week.”
The song – its title translates as Lights Freedom – captures both the sadness and dread of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Surprisingly though, it originated in a series of 2020 recording sessions that produced The Academy of Sun’s album The Quiet Earth.