Back in February, we reported on the former Royal Pirates K-pop boy band bassist, James Lee and his wish to release his own self-produced album with lyrics and music he had written whilst trying to recover from his horrific accident back in 2013. He had started a Kickstarter on 12 February with the hope that a few fans would still be around to support him and reach the goal of $27,600; the bare minimum for production costs and staff wages. Little did he realise the impact his story would have.

Within 12 hours of his Kickstarter going live, he had already hit his target. Obviously, James was beside himself as he informed his backers, “We are totally funded! I am kind of in shock right now but thank you guys so much.” Within 24 hours he had hit the $50.000 mark. But fans did not stop there. With the outpouring of support form other K-pop artists, radio stations, websites, news and TV networks from around the world, James’ Kickstarter had gone viral. On 18 March, the Kickstarter campaign ended with 1,472 backers and $89,753, nearly four times the initial goal.

Whether you were a fan or not, his story touched peoples hearts. Even now as his single and music video is released, he has kept everyone up to date through his Twitter and Instagram accounts, he has interacted personally and he has never sugarcoated his pain, his struggles, or his happiness. This project was his last step and thanks to his courage of speaking out, and the support of family, friends, fans and supporters worldwide, James has been given the chance to tell his story through music. It’s the end of his dark past, but the beginning of his new life, the light at the end of the tunnel.

Which brings us to his single, The Light. Knowing what went on with his accident, and seeing him rise to fame and suddenly disappear, one wonders if he had lost his touch. Thankfully there was nothing to worry about. The song starts off dark and has thoughtful lyrics, while the backing track is light and uplifting, showing a dark past but a new beginning. Vocally there are some great post-production edits and harmonisation, flicking between controlled soft vocals to the heavy loud metal style vocals.

The music video is absolutely stunning and you can see that so much thought has gone into how to tell the story visually. The lighting is spot on and the editing is flawless. Overall the whole package is a perfect starting point for James, and one hopes that he blossoms once again, but instead of being the person he once was he becomes a new man who has grasped his past and his present self and propels further into the future.

With the release of his single, James has released some special merchandise with the help of the company Represent. Creating special T-shirts to celebrate, James took to his Instagram to explain that each shirt sold has a special outcome as he will be donating a portion of all proceeds to the “American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) in memory of an old school friend of his who suffered from depression and sadly took his own life not too long ago.