Little Light

GrooveLily | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 28, 2000)
• Original Release Date: December 28, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: QMR
• ASIN: B0000DC3WQ
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #679,614 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Prayer For The Unrequited

2. Hole

3. I Don't Wanna Fall In Love

4. Weight Of The World

5. Little Nemesis

6. Thaw

7. I Want To Know What Love Is

8. Little Light

9. Captain Of A Ship On Fire

10. Tell Me What's On Your Mind

11. Love Song Without Metaphor (I Want You Back)

12. Coming Home

Editorial Reviews

Four years passed between GrooveLily's 1996 debut Jungle and Sky and its next full-length album, Little Light. Between those two CDs, keyboardist Brendan Milburn had a 1998 side project called Brendan & the Extenuating Circumstances, while lead singer/violinist Valerie Vigoda spent a lot of time backing major artists like Cher, Cyndi Lauper, and Joe Jackson. And as a group, GrooveLily provided a 1997 EP titled GrooveLily Sampler. By 2000, a new full-length album was overdue, and Little Light has no problem living up to the promise of Jungle and Sky; if anything, it's slightly stronger. Like before, GrooveLily favors an introspective, poetic approach to pop/rock. Subtlety usually prevails on this CD and, although expressive, Vigoda doesn't beat you over the head to get her points across. But for all their subtle introspection, tracks like "Captain of a Ship on Fire," "Weight of the World," and "Prayer for the Unrequited" are never wimpy; in GrooveLily's hands, sensitive doesn't mean wimpy or waifish. To her credit, Vigoda knows how to let her sensitivity show without coming across as a victim or a fragile waif. One of the most interesting, thought-provoking tracks is "Little Nemesis," which is about a woman showing different sides of herself in a relationship; the nice, congenial, girl next door usually prevails but the dominatrix occasionally needs to make her presence felt. Equally interesting is an unlikely and totally unexpected cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is"; originally, the tune was a stereotypical 1980s power ballad, but GrooveLily increases the tempo and turns it into a mixture of adult alternative and reggae — sort of Sarah McLachlan or Paula Cole by way of Shaggy. Was Little Light worth the four-year wait? Absolutely. -- Alex Henderson, allmusic.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "I feel like the world's getting lighter today..", November 29, 2003

By 

spiral_mind (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Light (Audio CD)

After an undeserved absence Amazon finally has this gem available, and now an unfortunate oversight has been corrected. I wish I'd known, I would have raved about Little Light a long time ago. The beauty of Groovelily deserves much more attention than their odd name is likely to earn them; with a basic keys/drums/violin lineup (augmented on this album by some tasty bass & guitar work), they spin wondrously eloquent lyrics and sweet ear-candy melodies into the finest kind of intelligent pop. It's instantly addictive, sure, but the sheer strength of the writing keeps everything from wearing out its welcome after only a little while like so much disposable pop. This is ear candy but not fluff: it still gets me high for days at a time, and after two and a half years it sounds as fresh as it did on the first spin. Behind the writing their musical skill is also pretty impressive, which is only icing on the cake.. that and Valerie Vigoda's honey-sweet voice, of course.

Lyrically they show a wonderful knack for the simple yet profound; these are songs that cover well-trodden personal territory without dipping into cliches, while remaining bouncy and singable from start to finish. The cynical ("Prayer for the Unrequited," "Little Nemesis") fits right alongside the positive ("Weight of the World," "Little Light") without anything sounding out of place. The overall tone is irresistibly mood-lifting, whether it's full of sunshine or mildly encouraging amidst the bleakness. Even the sad "Love Song Without Metaphor" (and isn't that a refreshing thing in itself?) doesn't brood on the somber side, but sugarcoats the lyrics with one of the most bouncy upbeat tunes to be found on this disc. Their cover of "I Want to Know What Love Is" - a song I always hated - is made listenable and even enjoyable with a newfangled touch of reggae. Who ever expected that?

This is an album that's always been good for enhancing a sunny mood and for cheering me up when I need it most. The songs range from driving force to atmospheric beauty, heartfelt joy to sadness, and yet the overall positivity can't help but catch on. If it seems like I'm gushing a little, well.. that's the reaction everyone seems to have to this band. Take a listen and see if you don't end up bouncing a little with excitement yourself.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely Groovy, February 13, 2005

By 

Laura Spafford "Littlespaffy" (Fullerton, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little Light (Back Issue Series) (Audio CD)

I was first turned on to Groovelily when I saw their production of "Striking Twelve" in December of 2004. It was then that I purchased this album, and I was instantly hooked. Groovelily is one of the few bands out there right now that still produces lyrically and melodically intelligent music. They write with passion and genuine heart, and create beautiful music through their unique take on Folk Rock style. On this album, my favorite tracks are "I Don't Wanna Fall in Love", "Little nemesis", "Love Song Without Metaphor" and "Coming Home". For a girl growing up with the likes of Carol King, James Taylor, Free Design and Joni Mitchel, the music stylings are refreshing in our present world of Hip Hop and Bubblegum Pop. But the real Shining jewel of this band, and this album in particular is Valerie Vigoda's use of electric violin, which is different, haunting and thouroghly enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this band to anyone looking for something new, fresh and simply good, and this is a great album to start your groovelily library, which will definitely grow ater one little taste of this groovy music.

5.0 out of 5 stars Striking Twelve, November 29, 2005

By 

Sally "See More Clearly" (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Light (Audio CD)

The Little Match Girl was always a favorite of mine. GROOVELILY has managed to bring it to life again in a whole new way. Their creativity and motivation are "STRIKING" ! You can't listen to only one track of this albujm. You have to enjoy the whole story. This is one you will want to share with family and friends as GROOVELILY puts a new spin on the Little Match Girl and brings her into the 21st century. This album is like a good book you can't put down.