In June 2012, it was revealed that Barbadian singer
Rihanna and American actor
Jim Parsons would star as the lead roles in the film Happy Smekday!, retitled to Home in June 2013.[2] In 2014, Variety reported that, in addition to her voice role, Rihanna created a
concept album for the film which was released on March 17, 2015.[3] It was later revealed that the film's soundtrack would also include songs recorded by
Charli XCX,
Kiesza, and
Jennifer Lopez.[4] "Feel the Light" was written by
Mikkel S. Eriksen,
Tor Erik Hermansen, and Kiesza, while the production was done by the former two under their production name
StarGate. Following "
Towards the Sun", it was
digitally released as the second single from the soundtrack on February 25, 2015 via the
iTunes Store.[5] In the film, the song was heard when Oh the Boov and his new friend Tip finally find Tip's mom (voiced by Lopez), as well as during the end credits.
Music video
On February 24, 2015, a lyric video of "Feel the Light" was posted on
YouTube via the DreamWorks Animation official channel. The video features Jennifer Lopez in a studio while recording the song, while the footage is being intercut with scenes from Home.[6]
On March 3, 2015, Jennifer Lopez teased the song's official music video, posting images from the shoot on her
Instagram account. The images showed her wearing a white suit, standing in front of a
green screen and sporting a braid.[7] Erin Strecker of Billboard noted that the shoot appears to be intergalactic.[8]
In her review of the song, Bianca Gracie of
Idolator wrote, "the featherlight tune (pun intended) is a beautiful and delicate mid-tempo that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike."[10]MTV UK's Michael Pell noted, "Feel The Light is a heart-felt ballad with the video taking us through a magical journey of friendship between the wee girl and her alien pal."[11]