"burn the bright lights" was written by christian nilsson, justin gray and zac poor, and produced by the latter two with adrian breakspear and gary pinto. it was mixed by miles walker and mastered by leon zervos. amit ofir provided the guitar for the song. "burn the bright lights" is the collective's first release without member zach russell, who left the band to become a firefighter. according to the australian musician network, "'burn the bright lights' is a song that manifests their passion, drive and desire to succeed." when the collective heard a demo of the song, they immediately wanted to record it. julian de vizio stated that the song has "a power and emotion inside" it "that everyone can relate to no matter what they're going through", while trent bell described "burn the bright lights" as "a mature song" that "has got feeling and hits people's hearts."