The collaboration began after Ehrlin and Irizarry met in the fall of 2025. Ehrlin had recently returned to the sacred music of his childhood with Hymns for Saxophone, while Irizarry brought decades of experience in Latin and contemporary jazz, combining what he describes as Puerto Rican “Sabor” with Nordic “Sisu.” Their meeting revealed a shared interest in melody, restraint, and improvisation, providing the foundation for a duo in which saxophone and guitar are given room to breathe.

Produced by Ehrlin and mixed and mastered by Mattias Green, Softly Light was recorded with an emphasis on preserving the intimacy and spontaneity of the performances. Its ECM-inspired sense of space runs throughout the record, but the music draws from a much wider landscape. The title track takes its inspiration from the muted light of a Nordic November, while Late Night grows from a sleepless night into sweeping, cinematic harmony after opening with traces of Swedish folk music.

Elsewhere, personal history and place become central to the writing. Great Grandfather, rooted in the Swedish visa tradition, remembers Ehrlin’s great-grandfather August Bernhard Andersson and his decision to embrace sobriety and faith after losing his father in an alcohol-related accident. Baltic Love Song reflects Irizarry’s years living and performing in Riga, turning memories of the Baltic landscape into a hushed musical meditation.

The album also looks outward. Fundas da Paixão (The Depths of Passion) pays homage to Antônio Carlos Jobim, gradually building toward a climactic release, while Azul y Oro (Blue and Gold), written as a tribute to Sweden, places saxophone and guitar in contrapuntal conversation over a 6/8 groove the duo calls “Nordic Afro-Cuban.” Their interpretation of Blue in Green, meanwhile, marks what would have been Miles Davis’ 100th birthday in 2026.

Ehrlin’s background stretches from the Christian hymns he first played by ear alongside his father to his long-running work with SE-Quartet, while Irizarry’s career encompasses more than three decades as a performer, composer, author, and educator, including collaborations with Eddie Henderson, Jimmy Haslip, and Lonnie Liston Smith. On Softly Light, those histories meet without either musician overwhelming the other.

The result is a record built on conversation rather than display. Moving between Nordic stillness and Latin warmth, memory and improvisation, Softly Light finds its character in what the duo leaves open: sophisticated music played gently, with space for melody, silence, and sincerity.