November 1, 2022: Today, the GRAMMY-winning songwriter Dan Wilson released the official video for “Red Light,” which was co-written with Jenny Owen Youngs and Ethan Gruska. The song appears on Wilson’s recently released EP Dancing On The Moon, his first collection of solo material since his 2017 album Re-Covered and follows his band Semisonic’s first release of new music in nearly 20 years You’re Not Alone that was released in 2020. Last month, Wilson’s band Semisonic announced they will make their highly anticipated return to Minneapolis, MN for two shows at First Avenue on January 27 and 28 as part of The Current’s 18th anniversary celebration.
Watch the official video for “Red Light” via YouTube.
Wilson explains: “My new release is ‘Red Light,’ from the Dancing on the Moon EP. The song is about three things. 1) the day I found out that the master tapes of my two bands Trip Shakespeare and Semisonic had burned in the infamous Universal Music fire (the red light of the fire seen from the clouds); 2) my love for recording on tape despite #1 (thus the red light of the title); and 3) my Mom’s memory loss – almost as though her master tapes are being gradually erased. In the video, the ghosts of all these vanishing things are played by a yellow 1971 Ford Mustang and my daughter in a ghost costume in the passenger seat. Los Angeles looks very beautiful at night if you blur your eyes.”
The Dancing On The Moon EP finds Wilson exploring a more pop-centric and experimental sonic palette than his previous solo material, which for the last four years has consisted of a string of nearly 20 singles in lieu of a proper album or EP collection. Dancing On The Moon announced with a cover of Perfume Genius’ “On The Floor,” which was praised by Cool Hunting, Stereogum and Under The Radar.
In the midst of writing and releasing new solo material and continuing to work with his band Semisonic, Wilson remains one of the most in-demand songwriters working today. In the past year alone, Wilson teamed up with Mitski for her first released co-write, “The Only Heartbreaker,” worked with Taylor Swift on re-producing his co-writes on Red (Taylor’s Version), and collaborated with with Leon Bridges, Tom Morello, Joy Oladokun, Claud, Cuco and many more.
In 2020, Wilson released his Words + Music in 6 Seconds deck that spawned from his popular Words + Music in 6 Seconds instagram series. The 75-card deck offers brief and inspiring pieces of advice and covers everything from inspiration and creativity to working relationships and mental health. The deck is now available for purchase via Amazon and his website.
Dan Wilson is a Minneapolis-born, Los Angeles based musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and visual artist. Wilson took home an Album of the Year GRAMMY for Adele’s 21, which featured three of his co-writes (including “Someone Like You”), landed a Song of the Year Grammy for The Chicks’ “Not Ready To Make Nice,” and was nominated for Best Rock Song for his song “Closing Time” he wrote for his band Semisonic. Wilson, who is know as a “songwriters songwriter,” has written with an eclectic range of collaborators including living legends Carole King and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, country artists Chris Stapleton and Tenille Townes, rising pop stars Noah Cyrus and Alec Benjamin, indie rockers My Morning Jacket and Phantogram, and many more. In 2020, Wilson reunited his band Semisonic for the release of the EP You’re Not Alone, their first release of new music in 20 years, and released his Words + Music in 6 Seconds card deck. This September, Wilson will release Dancing On The Moon, his first collection of new solo material since 2017 that follows a string of nearly 20 solo singles he’s released over the last four years.
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