On “SHINE”, Debola Akran inspires listeners to find the light within
Michael Kolawole
Life has a way of burying the light in us until we forget it was ever there. On his latest single “SHINE”, Debola Akran wants us to reach within for the light and reflect it to the world.
The song opens with a ticking clock, as though time is running out, before a gentle guitar strum and calm piano ease the tension. With the instrumental setting the mood, Debola Akran begins to speak. “In a world full of pain and uncertainties, there is light buried deep inside of you,” He lets the line sit before pronouncing the charge that gives the song its title: “Find it, let it so shine, that the world may see.” After the motivational speech comes a low thud, more like a heartbeat, that steadily enhances the instrumental appeal.
With its gospel cadence, the song gestures towards the old spiritual “This Little Light of Mine” and Timi Dakolo’s light-themed song, “Let It Shine” but resists the call-and-response structure. Akran keeps the chorus solo; the backing voices don’t respond to him but echo his voice, repeating fragments of his words and murmuring “shine” the lead. The backing vocals are more of an affirmation of Akran’s lyrics than a response.
The first verse is a call to action. Akran addresses anyone bogged down by life uncertainty, struggling to find their path in the darkness. He insists that the light inside them must burn and shine for them, so it can guide them through the darkness.
Light can be blinding if one stays in the dark for too long. Akran seems to understand this, which is why the verse doesn’t outrightly demand courage but persuades. He tells the listener not to be shy, not to give up, and that there is hope he will make it through. But to achieve freedom from darkness, the light within the heart must be found and shone.
By the second verse, the instrumental becomes cheerful, and so does the resolve. Akran sings of taking the first step, insisting that every journey looks different but must still be completed if the light is to be found. With the chorus, Akran sings about the advantages of patience. “Find your light, let it shine / After night comes the day / Light up your world / Find your light, let it shine / After rain comes the sun / Light up your world.” Assisted by backup vocals, he further buttresses the importance of finding one’s light and letting it shine on the [song’s] bridge.
Akran’s voice holds the song’s entire point together. Never straining from the theme, he controls the delivery with a dulcet vocal quality and assured phrasings, calmly issuing instructions to embattled listeners. His decision not to shout listeners into a blind faith and hope makes the uplifting lyrics stronger and more effective. The decent instrumental composition makes the song truly shine, as its title implies.
The song pushes too much into the aspires to inspire, peculiar to motivational/gospel songs. Akran’s stock focuses on light and darkness, night and day, rain and sunshine, without cogent specificity in the verses nearly crushing the song’s messages. Constantly repeating “let it shine” in the chorus tilts the song further into repetition as a form of affirmation instead of specific development. Repetition is often suitable in secular music, where it usually builds for the emotional release or transformation. It’s mostly reiterated on this song, and never develops into the expected cathartic effect, leaving the song’s ending doing less work than its opening.