Siberia

Lights creeped onto the scene in 2009 with "The Listening" a fun, energetic, experimental debut album that had it's moments ("Savior"," Drive My Soul"), but had flaws that even Lights admitted earlier in the year, such as a tad too much auto-tune even for her liking. However, unlike most Artist that explode out of the gate with a giant debut album full of hits, only to have the inevitable follow up album be full of uninspired dribble and filler, Lights saved her best for last - and it certainly has payed off.

Enter Siberia. This album is excellent follow up to her debut effort. It's polished, it flows from one track to another, and diverse enough to keep you listening on repeat for quite some time. The album instantly sucks you in with the hypnotic titled track "Siberia", a melodic track that showcases Lights soothing vocals to a tee - no screaming, no whining, no wailing vocals, just a good opening track that relaxes you and leaves you impressed when over. The leading single "Toes" is perhaps the catchiest song on the album, the bumping synths definitely gets the toes tapping, and you will have "Oh, you capture my attention" stuck in your head for the weeks to follow. It's borderline criminal. "Timing Is Everything" "Banner" "Peace Sign" are all excellent tracks, each one showcasing how much Lights as matured her sound and voice since 2009. If you have doubts about Lights vocal range, one only has to listen to the chorus to "Flux and Flow"; a fat-sounding beat with some dubstep influence and an amazing chorus makes this one one of my favorites. "Fourth Dimension" has dubstep influence, but not overdone - which is a prevailing theme throughout the album, just enough to recognize, but not so much it drowns you out in disgust. These are just the tracks that caught my attention.

In conclusion Siberia is one of my favorites releases to come out of the abysmal over-saturated soup known as the "Music Industry" this year. The album is dark and moody, full of dance tracks, yet relaxing and calming enough to leave you refreshed. Lights voice, while no Adele or some other high profile singer, is very soothing and soulful. Her sound is easy on the ears and doesn't scream for too much attention. Siberia blends the soothing vocals perfectly with electronica, not one over-powering the other, which makes for an easy and accessible album to listen too. Lights is a proper artist, who is willing to fight tooth-and-nail to make an album that makes her happy, not the bean counters (the business man) I hope Lights sticks it out for a third album, her talent would be deeply missed if she decides to pursue other interest.

I preordered this cd with high hopes. Her first cd, "The Listening", was amazing and I expected great things. One thing is for sure, I was not disappointed, in fact quite the opposite. At first, I was a bit unsure with her new sound, but it quickly grew on me. Between her talent with her instruments, and her voice, with an uncanny ability to write her own songs, I can't decide what I enjoyed most. I'm beyond pleased with her newest cd, and can't wait for more. You certainly can't go wrong with this album.

LIGHTS sophomore relase, Siberia, overcomes the second CD curse with flying colors. For fans of her first offering "The Listening" you'll find that her vocals and lyrics have matured, both in terms of her actual voice as well as the rhymes and structure of the lyrics. Despite this, she's retained the same innocent sweetness that allows her to pull off the recurring themes of love and adoration throughout the album. Add these elements to an even heavier dubsted/electronic influence, and well-placed guest voals, and you have a truly multi-faceted album that has none, zero, zilch bad tracks. This isn't typical from an album that leads with the single its named after (usually its downhill from there) - instead, this album just gets better and better.

Lights definitely challenges the genre conventions of the female singer/songwriter, and shows that she has the musical ability, singing, and songwriting skills to go the distance.