One More Light

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The band recorded the album between September 2015 and February 2017 in multiple studios. Band members Brad Delson and Mike Shinoda served as the album's primary producers. The sound of One More Light has been described as being more pop-focused, departing from the alternative rock and alternative metal sounds of their previous albums. The album features guest vocal appearances from Pusha T, Stormzy, and Kiiara, and production and songwriting collaborations with J. R. Rotem, Julia Michaels, Justin Tranter, Ross Golan, Andrew Goldstein, Blackbear, and Eg White. In an interview with Zane Lowe, Shinoda explained the composition as, "In terms of the style of the record, it's one of the most diverse stylistically, there's more genres mashed into this album than anything we've ever put out. You don't hear a lot of super heavy guitars. There isn't any screaming on the record." He adds, "To some extent it is a very polished record. Stylistically we wanted to blend all of the sound and genres together in a way you can’t tell them apart."

In Their Own Story

The album's lead single, "Heavy", featuring Kiiara, was released on February 16, 2017. "Battle Symphony", "Good Goodbye", and "Invisible" were released as promotional singles prior to the album's release. "Talking to Myself" and "One More Light" were released as radio singles later on. The album received mixed reviews from music critics; this, along with accusations of selling out, prompted an angry response from Bennington. One More Light performed well commercially, debuting at number one in several countries. It also became the band's fifth number-one album on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold in five countries. In 2014, Linkin Park released their sixth studio album The Hunting Party. Mike Shinoda began the pre-production of One More Light on his smartphone in mid-2015 during The Hunting Party Tour. The main production began as soon as the tour ended. In the process, the band decided to write songs with some external help. They worked with Zayed Hassan, which resulted in his song "Sailing Through the Clouds", Martin Garrix, Hot Karl, Mike Baczor of the band Her0, The Lonely Island, which resulted in "Things in My Jeep", and One Ok Rock. None of these collaborations, however, made the final version of the album.

Reader's Guide

As a new concept to the band, all the songs featured on the album began with vocals being recorded first. They worked on the story first, then the hook, and finally the music. In an interview with MusicRadar, Brad Delson explained, "I wound up putting a lot of guitar on this album. There’s a lot of layers and a lot of different guitars. The guitar work is nuanced and complementary to all of the other elements that we have put in there." He added, "One of the goals of the production of this album was to do away with any notion of genre." The band had been writing and recording mostly in Los Angeles but also had a few sessions in London and Canada where they worked with a few songwriters. In Los Angeles, the band started working at the Larrabee Studios where they had worked for their previous album. After noticing the band needed a bit more space they shifted to Sphere Studios. Starting in early 2016 the band decided to open up their process to fans through social media by doing live streams, posting pictures and videos of their day by day in the studio, and sending studio updates to their mailing list. In an interview with Billboard, Shinoda said "We've focused almost exclusively on songwriting, not on sound, not on genre, not on arrangement, on words and melodies."

Did You Know?

• One More Light is Linkin Park's first album to have a title track, as the band felt the song 'One More Light' was the heart of the album.
• The album is the band's final album to feature co-lead vocalist Chester Bennington, who died by suicide two months after its release, and drummer Rob Bourdon, who opted not to return for the band's 2024 reformation.
• All songs on the album began with vocals being recorded first — a new concept for the band — working on the story first, then the hook, and finally the music.
• Bennington collaborated with Billy Howerdel of A Perfect Circle on a track titled 'Eat the Elephant', but it was left off the album because it didn't match the direction of One More Light's sound.
• The children seen on the album cover are those of a friend of the band and represent what the band members feel when their respective families get together; the photo was shot at Venice Beach by Frank Maddocks.