Anneke Van Giersbergen, Dutch singer-songwriter and frontwoman of The Gathering, has released her brand new single “Agape” with a lyric video to accompany it. The track is a part of her forthcoming album The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest, which is currently set to be released on February 26.

“Agape” is the third single from Van Giersbergen’s upcoming release. “‘Agape’ refers to the highest form of unconditional love, the type of love we all yearn for. I’ve tried to create a distinct echo of a love song from the ‘70s with a meditative guitar arrangement. The lush should of a string quartet adds a dreamy quality to the song,” said the singer in a press release.

Van Giersbergen’s newest single is a soft pop tune that radiates the ‘70s vibe that she was looking to achieve. “Agape” quickly delves into the heartbreak that inspired her to write the song. “If I wake up beside you and touch your smile/ The world would disappear for a while/ We’d hide in space or any other place/ Immortal souls will always find their way.”

Before “Agape,” “Hurricane” was Van Giersbergen’s most recent track to be featured on The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest. She released the second single back on January 15.

VUUR, which is Dutch for “fire” and is also Van Giersbergen’s metal band that formed in 2016, released their debut album shortly after getting together. With the announcement, the band began giving fans a glimpse of the process of the making of the album. They released In This Moment We Are Free – Cities in late October of 2017, their debut album that was High Fidelity on mxdwn. Van Giersbergen formed VUUR with the intent to further explore and shed light to her metal side.

“My belief in VUUR saw me spend all my savings on recording VUUR’s debut album and taking the band on the road. After completing our first touring cycle, I realized that more VUUR would mean yet more, huge financial risks”