So why am I reviewing an album that came out last October in the US (September in Canada)? Well, it’s my site so I can do whatever I want (within a legal realm). Next question would be why am I review an album from a 22 year old Canadian? She’s hardly a starlet but she falls in the age category of the people on this site, so if I want to review her I will. I also have to admit that I had no idea who she was until a couple of weeks ago. It involves buying Owl City and finding out she’s the opening act but I’m not going to bore anyone with the details.
So who is this LIGHTS? Well, as mentioned it’s a 22 year old female Canadian musician obviously. Reading up on her shows some interesting things, to give some quirky details; she has a quite big Wonder Woman tattoo on her back and two World Of Warcraft related tattoos. Some people would consider that geeky I think but I don’t, to me it shows that she is quite outspoken about what she likes and does. So lets get to the music part now. Her music is referred to as Synthpop (someone from that genre who would be better known would be Metro Station, I just think LIGHTS is a lot better than them. Owl City would also fit the description of Synthpop.) but I think I mentioned before that I don’t look at genres very much, I listen to the music I like, whatever genre it’s in.
It is Synthpop yes so there is a lot of electronic stuff going on, however in this case it’s a choice. For people who doubt that LIGHTS can sing live just check the video below and shut up.
The song she is singing there is called Saviour and it’s the best track of the album if you ask me, just love everything about the song, the music the lyrics, the whole package (I also love the music video so that is attached underneath as well, finally a music video which doesn’t look like it was slapped together). While I have my theories about the origins of the lyrics (I didn’t read up on that, other people are unlikely to do so) but the lyrics can be applied to a lot of situations. Or maybe I’m just biased because the meaning of my birth name is saviour. It’s also the current single of the album, the previous one is Ice which is a good song but doesn’t quite keep up. Other songs that are worth a listen are Lions!, River and The Listening. Actually all songs on there are worth a listen, I can’t say that I can find a bad song on there. I just like the whole thing really.
So what do I think of the album? I actually just love it. It’s a big thing to say but I really do, with the album I just get a feeling that she is presenting her own style of music. That this is the album that she wanted to make and not what some record executive wanted her to make. She’s a co-writer on all the songs so this really is her album. Sound wise it’s just a well rounded mix, every song sounds different and has its own charms. So that is another reason for reviewing the album, I just want to get it out there so people will give her a listen. She might be well known in Canada but outside of those borders not quite yet. I know I’ve never done this before but I’m actually giving it five out of five (as I don’t do halves). Problem with that however is that she better live up to that when she comes out with a new album.
Tags: LIGHTS
