Lights - "A6"
I’ve been a big fan of Lights’ brand of Electropop for years now after stumbling across her third and fourth albums (Little Machines and Skin & Earth) back around ‘18 or ‘19. Her fifth album, 2022’s Pep, was one of my favorites that year, and ranked 16th in my year-end countdown.
Lights is yet another gift that Canada has given to the world. Born as Valerie Anne Poxleitner to a pair of missionaries in Ontario in 1987, Lights wasted very little time in demonstrating musical proclivities and even sang in a metal band in high school. “Lights” was a nickname derived from her surname and disposition, and she even had her name legally changed so she could use in professionally in spite of the fact that a band had already been using it. She released her first album in 2009, but this is only her sixth (thus the admittedly bland title, A6).
A6 is also entirely self-produced — an indie venture in every sense, with Lights playing many of the instruments, herself.
On the whole, I don’t think it quite measures up to Pep, but that’s a high bar, anyhow. As that album’s name implies, it had a lot of energy, and its best moments were, by-and-large, in its most upbeat songs. The one area where A6 definitely outshines Pep is in its lower-tempo songs, which stand on their own a bit better, as Pep’s largely felt like interludes after several listens (with the exceptions of “Rent” or closing track “Grip”).
Similarly, though, A6’s highs aren’t quite as high. “Alive Again” is the only track that comes close to capturing the energy of “Money In the Bag” or “Sparky”, but it doesn’t quite do so.
But A6 is still full of bops — they’re just more mid-tempo-ish. There’s less overall energy, but still more than your average pop album, even the slower tracks sort of buzz with energy just under the surface. The album does feel a bit front-heavy, with “Damages”, “Alive Again”, and “Surface Tension” being three of the best songs to be had here, but I there isn’t a single one that I dislike.
Good album, good listen.
Rating: Green