LIGHTS ‘SIBERIA’
JUNO AWARD WINNING SONGSTRESS TO RELEASE SOPHOMORE ALBUM IN AUSTRALIA OCTOBER 28th VIA SHOCK RECORDS
When Canadian electro-rock sensation Lights first hit the music scene in 2008, she was just a songwriter with a synth and a dream. Her name may have been pluralized but Lights Poxleitner was a one-woman show who played and programmed her own instruments and sang her own lyrics. This admirable self-reliance is rare in pop—in fact, Lights, signed a publishing deal at 16 and began writing songs for other artists.
In 2008 her self-titled debut EP was precocious enough to earn her a ‘Best New Artist’ Juno and in September 2009 Lights released her debut full-length follow-up ’The Listening’ which has since received Gold certification in Canada.
The dividend from her early award-winning success is her current artistic freedom. Not to mention her sprawling online footprint which includes over a half-million Facebook fans and over a quarter-million Twitter followers.
Fast forward to 2011 and Lights is back with the release of her sophomore full-length album ‘Siberia’ (Last Gang Records / Lights Music) to be released in Australia October 28th via Shock Records.
Siberia was co-produced by Lights and her trusted collaborator, Thomas “Tawgs†Salter. Special guest producers include Graham Walsh & Brian Borcherdt from acclaimed Canadian indie-electro outfit, Holy Fuck. The fellow Juno-winning duo initially met a when they both played the dance stage at last year’s Reading and Leeds festivals in the UK. Impressed by their “grime and grit,†she decided to see what might happen when she infused her pop sensibilities with their experimental tendencies. Their artistic synergies clicked and eventually they completed nine tracks (including “Everybody Breaks A Glass†and “Toesâ€), peppering Siberia with Holy Fuck’s edgy organic grit and merging them with LIGHTS’ trademark synth-pop sounds.
“Making this second record was similar to making my first in that I completely discovered myself as an artist all over again,†said Lights. “I've evolved and I've grown more into myself; I'm so excited about the direction of this new album.â€
"Thankfully, Lights was open to letting Brian and I take a hold of her songs, and really mess them up. In the end, I think we were able to add a very interesting dark stain to them...in a good way!" - Graham Walsh, Holy Fuck.
The first official single from Siberia, is the infectious dance track “Toes†co-written and produced with Tawgs, featuring Holy Fuck.
Available now on iTunes is first taste of the album “Everybody Breaks A Glass†which features an appearance by Toronto’s lyrically gifted rapper, Shad on www.iamlights.com which is already at over 100k Online Hits. True to her artistic form, with magic markers and laptop in-tow, Lights created a lyric video for this track which has now generated almost 300,000 views to date. See it here http://youtu.be/LEBLCoNVwds.
Why ‘Siberia?’
“It’s based on something that was said to me, that we could be happy even in a place like Siberia. It was such an inspiring thing to say, because Siberia is cold and a little daunting and represents unfamiliar territory.†That last bit is particularly sticky for Lights, who left her safe pop haven for these unexplored sonics, though the metaphor carries even further because despite being an infamous land of ice and exile, Siberia is epically beautiful and so is Siberia.
For the latest Lights news, visit www.iamlights.com or follow her on www.facebook.com/lights
SIBERIA - TRACKLISTING
1. Siberia
2. Where the Fence is Low
3. Toes
4. Banner
5. Everybody Breaks a Glass
6. Heavy Rope
7. Timing is Everything
8. Peace Sign
9. Cactus in the Valley
10. Suspension
11. Flux and Flow
12. Fourth Dimension
13. And Counting …
14. Day One
http://www.shock.com.au/