Lindsey Stirling felt ‘covered with shadow’ before writing Artemis

Lindsey Stirling feels "full of light and hope again" after a difficult period "covered in shadow".
The 32-year-old musician’s fifth record ‘Artemis’ – named after the Goddess of the Moon – is reflective of her overcoming her struggle with depression following the loss of both her dad and best friend to cancer, and she revealed writing the more positive new songs transformed her outlook.
She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "If you didn’t know better, you might look up at the sky sometimes and think the moon doesn’t exist anymore because you can’t see it.
"But we all know the moon will come back and be full of light again. Likewise, I had almost accepted I was covered with shadow, I was covered with sadness and depression.
"I’d almost accepted that maybe that Lindsey that was happy with rose tinted glasses, maybe she doesn’t exist anymore and she died with my dad and best friend. But right around the time I started writing this album, I felt myself come back, I felt myself full of light and hope again."
Lindsey – who has served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in the past – has been very open about her own demons, including her past battle with anorexia.
And she admitted she now sees her role in a world as someone to "bright light to people" going through similar things, as an inspiration to overcome them.
She added: "I realised that was part of my mission, my purpose to try to bring light to people and try to bring hope.
"I’ve been given some very unique experiences in my life that made me think I’ve not only been through them, I’ve got through them and come out the other side as a better person."
After previous album focused on much darker topics like "loss and depression", Lindsey admitted she has found it "so exciting" to tackle a much more positive range of emotions.
She said: "I was writing about those intense emotions of loss and depression that I didn’t even know it was humanly possible to feel. It was hard stuff to write about.
"Now, this album was so exciting because when I was digging deep trying to think what to write about, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, how exciting, I’m in a really good place right now.’ "
Lindsey Stirling released ‘Artemis’ today (06.09.19), and she will be performing at London’s Eventim Apollo on October 14 as part of her European and Mexican tour.