You have to hand it to Valerie Poxleitner, under the guise Lights in her home country of Canada she’s an award-winning musician. The rest of the world is catching on and Lights is certainly going to be a star in any country she wants to be. Using the internet cleverly, she’s managed to build up a fanbase of all sorts – young girls want to be her, young boys want to do her.
The music? Well that depends on what you like listening to. ‘The Listening’ is very gentle, electro-pop that suits daytime radio but is way too watered down and weak to really have any impact. The girl’s clearly got talent and the live videos scattered across the internet show she can sing and play many instruments to a high level. So it’s all the more frustrating that this album makes her sound like a chipmunk screeching across a backdrop of 80s loops and synths. It’s all very on-paced and Lights‘ voice doesn’t really show any emotion throughout. It’s all very obvious and very predictable. It’s too shiny and slick, meaning the songs without strong choruses – and there’s a fair few of those – really don’t have any kind of last impact.
‘Saviour’ has a strong chorus but the vocal effect is really weird, while ‘Ice’ is kind of hypnotic with an interesting beat and pace. But the intrigue is in real short supply. Most songs drift along aimlessly and are neither catchy nor unique. It just sounds like the same old synth-pop that so many other bands have been peddling at the same time. It doesn’t even sound very genuine either and while this could all be forgiven with 12 killer choruses, you can count the memorable tunes on one hand.
I really wanted to like this record, but it’s third-rate. And that’s being polite. Lights is clearly a talent, but that talent is not showcased here.