Singer/songwriter Ken Yates transforms raw hope and heartache into a comforting, cathartic, and emotionally charged folk rock reverie in “Under the Cover of Light,” a beautifully intimate anthem of empathy taken from his highly anticipated fifth album, ‘Total Cinema.’
“Under the Cover of Light” – Ken Yates
I hope you’re dreaming in black and white and seeing in colour under the cover of light…
* * *
The snow is melting, the nights are softening, and light is creeping back into the corners of the day.
As winter slowly gives way to spring, Canadian singer/songwriter Ken Yates returns with music tailor-made for the season’s push and pull – of aching and healing, of hurting and hoping. “Under the Cover of Light,” the fourth single taken off Yates’ upcoming fifth album Total Cinema, is a masterclass in contrast: At once heavy and buoyant, intimate and anthemic, delicate and driving. The Ontario native transforms raw hope and heartache into a soaring, revitalizing experience on his latest offering – a comforting, cathartic, and charged folk rock track that invites both quiet reflection and emotional release.
As lyrically vivid as it is breathtakingly vulnerable, “Under the Cover of Light” once again affirms Yates’ longstanding gift for turning deeply personal moments into universally resonant, soul-stirring songs.
You’re always calling your
mom in the dead of night
With a temper you got from your father
By the time that you’re feeling tired
You’re covered in morning,
you’re covered up
Salt on the road from the morning ploughs
Still you find that you’re spinning out
Giving the mirror a dressing down
It never shows you what you want
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Under the Cover of Light,” a song that feels both raw and resilient, pulsing with an urgent energy that sets it apart from much of Ken Yates’ past work. Propelled by a dynamic guitar lick and crisp, kinetic percussion, the track surges forward with Yates’ signature emotional depth – his voice hot on the mic, charged with feeling but tempered by reflection. It’s an anthem of empathy, a rallying cry for anyone caught between breakdown and breakthrough.
Out everywhere May 8th, “Under the Cover of Light” follows Yates’ recent singles “Cataclysmic End,” “Perennials,” and the title track “Total Cinema,” each offering its own window into the immersive, dynamic sonic world Yates has crafted for his upcoming fifth studio album. A two-time Atwood Magazine Editor’s Pick, Ken Yates has time and again proved himself to be a singular, generational artist, his songs “shining with the quiet hope of a soul put through the wringer.” We previously praised his fourth album Cerulean (2022) as a breathtaking triumph of the human spirit, channeling pain into beauty and grief into hope.
Where his last record began a concerted transition out of strict ‘folk’ music toward something less strictly and structurally defined, Total Cinema marks a defining evolution.
Per his own team, the new album “expands Yates’ sonic palette with rich textures and versatile arrangements,” all while exploring themes of gratitude, self-awareness, and the complexities of the human condition. Collaborating with producer Dan Ledwell in Halifax, Yates embraces both the shadows and the light, creating an eleven-track journey that celebrates artistic clarity and emotional honesty in real time.
Musically, “Under the Cover of Light” embodies this ongoing creative evolution, dancing on an emotional knife’s edge as Yates injects energy and warmth into his heavy subject matter. The result is something unexpectedly uplifting: A bright, cathartic reckoning that can’t help but lean into the light, even as its narrator wrestles with the ache of wanting to support those who aren’t ready to receive it.
Yates builds all that introspection, gratitude, and tension into the song’s cathartic chorus — a hard-won moment of release that feels both tender and triumphant, even if it’s all just built on one soul’s hopes and dreams. The sentiment is still there; the heart, the care, the weight of knowing what your loved one is going through and trying to be there for them however you can. It’s not just a wish for someone else’s healing, but a reflection of the empathy we carry for those we hold close; the quiet, persistent hope that they’ll find their way through the darkness and back “under the cover of light.”
I hope you’re wearing your welcome out
Under the veil of your hanging cloud
Hope you’re taking it light on yourself
And sleeping better
I hope you’re whetting your appetite
Finding your way into someone’s eyes
I hope you’re dreaming in black and white
And seeing in colour
Under the cover of light
Under the cover of light
As Yates explains, this song not only set the tone for what was to come, but it also gave him a new perspective on his own songwriting.
“‘Under the Cover of Light’ was one of the first songs I wrote for Total Cinema, and in a lot of ways, it became the album’s compass,” Yates tells Atwood Magazine. “At its core, it could’ve easily been a ballad – slow-burning and introspective – but I nudged the tempo just enough to give it this unexpected buoyancy.”
“I like the tension of it being light on its feet vs. the weight of the lyrics – about the quiet heartbreak of trying to help someone who may not be ready to be helped. That tension really set the tone for what the rest of the record would sound like.”
A little lighter fluid therapy
Then you found yourself going overseas
Seeing the world in ADHD
And it never shows you what you want
The accompanying music video, also created by Daniel Ledwell (who produced, mixed, and engineered the entire album – “he’s a man of many talents,” Yates quips), transfers the song’s tenderness and aching into pseudo-real life examples. Comprised almost exclusively of intimate moments – some shared, some solo, many in various bedrooms – the visual highlights the intense vulnerability involved in that kind of raw, human connection, both for those who are in pain and those who want to help.
“It mirrors the song’s emotional undercurrent,” Yates adds. “[It’s] that restless, sleepless churn in your gut as you fumble through the detours and disappointments of being human.”
At its core, “Under the Cover of Light” is a song about the quiet ache of wanting to help someone find their way.
Together, both song and video offer a cinematic portrait of what it means to care, to carry, to come undone — and to keep going anyway. Yates expertly expresses that familiar longing, that bitter helplessness, and that fierce, unwavering devotion that comes with loving someone through their struggles. It’s about holding space for another’s pain, even when you can’t fix it, and finding a kind of solace in simply being present. The video translates this emotional landscape into vivid, everyday moments: The physical (and non-physical) spaces we occupy when we’re hurting, the small gestures that connect us, and the intimate, unspoken bonds that hold us together. Showing up matters. Listening matters. In a way, this song reminds us that not all problems are solved by words or actions – and that not all heroes wear capes.
Sign said satisfaction guaranteed
and then you bought it
And I know everything you said
is not quite what you thought
I see your madness through the trees
And I’m inclined to disagree
That the universe has canceled your plans
“Under the Cover of Light” is a meditation on the beauty and burden of human connection, on the sleepless, restless churn of empathy, and on the grace we offer one another simply by showing up. Let Ken Yates’ latest single be your soundtrack to those quiet, hard, hopeful moments – moments where the weight of the world feels a little bit lighter under the cover of a new dawn.
Stream “Under the Cover of Light” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and stay tuned for more to come as the singer/songwriter continues to unveil his fifth studio album: Total Cinema is out June 5th, 2025!
I hope you’re wearing your welcome out
Under the veil of your hanging cloud
Hope you’re taking it light on yourself
And sleeping better
I hope you’re wetting your appetite
Finding your way into someone’s eyes
I hope you’re dreaming in black and white
And seeing in colour
I hope you’re sweating the bigger stuff
Finding some peace in an honest love
Hope you stop when you’ve had enough
Throw in the towel
I hope I see you around some time
Blowing smoke through your social life
I hope you’re dreaming in black and white
And seeing in colour
Under the cover of light
— —
:: stream/purchase Under the Cover of Light here ::
:: connect with Ken Yates here ::
— —
“Under the Cover of Light” – Ken Yates
— — — —
Connect to Ken Yates on
Facebook, 𝕏, TikTok, Instagram
Discover new music on Atwood Magazine
© Brittany Farhat
© Brittany Farhat:: Stream Ken Yates ::
