Stevie Nicks has been talking up the existence of new songs for a while now, but few could have expected Wednesday night's announcement of "The Lighthouse". It's Nicks' first new and original song since 2020's "Show Them the Way", and was co-produced with Sheryl Crow and Dave Cobb. Crow also plays bass and electric guitar on the track, and adds backing vocals too. Credited co-writers on the track are Magnus Birgersson and Vincent Villuis, who record as Solar Fields and Aes Dana, respectively.

"The Lighthouse" is based on a lyric written and shared by Nicks in a social media post back in September 2022, originally titled "Get It Back". The song was first written as a poem, which Nicks recorded as a song the very next day while out on the road. The impetus for writing the song was to encourage people to vote in the 2022 US midterm elections. As Nicks wrote at the time:

"At 74 years old, I can honestly say that I am worried about every one of you. Worried about health care, and just in general, worried about your God given rights... The disintegration of Roe v. Wade will change your life in an unfathomable way. You will not have control of what your beautiful dreams want for you... I watched what happened to women from 1966 (I was 18) to 1973 when I was 25 and 2 years away from joining Fleetwood Mac. Believe me when I tell you, you don't want that world to come back."

There's an argument to be made that "The Lighthouse" actually calls back to "Show Them the Way", only this time Nicks is not calling for the bearded guy in the sky to illuminate the way ahead – she wants to be the lighthouse herself.

Listen to "The Lighthouse" below"

Nicks' most recent single was her 2022 cover of Buffalo Springfield's timeless protest song "For What It's Worth", though it's easily confused with Nicks' own song with the same name recorded for her 2011 album In Your Dreams. Last year she guested the song "Oil" by Gorillaz and duetted with Dolly Parton on "What Has Rock and Roll Ever Done for You" – the first studio recording to emerge since Nicks wrote and demo'd the track in the '80s.

Nicks was recently announced as a musical guest for the 50th series of Saturday Night Live, where it's likely she'll be performing "The Lighthouse". The show airs on 12 October and will be hosted by Ariana Grande. Nicks has not appeared on SNL as a musical guest since 1983.

Nicks has been touring a lot this year and has one show left on the books. She'll be performing on Saturday (28 September) in Hershey, PA, having rescheduled the original date from June.