Siberia

LIGHTS | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 4, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Last Gang Records
• ASIN: B005HWUDFI
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,645 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Siberia

2. Where The Fence Is Low

3. Toes

4. Banner

5. Everybody Break 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

Editorial Reviews

It's a huge step," she readily admits. "For a year after my first record, I was confused and searching. I was writing all over the place and not finding anything that was essentially different. But after tour last year I was turned onto dubstep." The genre's grimy beats and sonic minimalism influenced the creation of Siberia, if not necessarily shaping the music itself (though she does pay homage with a dubstep drop on "Fourth Dimension.") Rather, dubstep led Lights away from the "perfection" of her past work. "Everything was tuned and timed just right. The new stuff is raw and gritty but still pop with a focus on the melodies. It's the marriage of those two that make it really different and unlike anything I've ever done before." This dirtier direction came from collaborating with Holy Fuck, a fellow Juno-winning, electronic-influenced Canadian act who she met when 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. "I went over to Brian [Borcherdt's] house with Graham [Walsh] and we just started jamming until something started to form, as opposed to the last record which was more structured and less live feeling. We wired old synths and toy synths through all these pedals and machines from their junk table," she laughs. "They're straight-up mad scientists." Her other main collaborator was Shad, who she knew through a mutual friend. "He's so humble and so intelligent," she says, "and I knew he'd kill it." Indeed, Shad drops his typically articulate knowledge on the crunchy, soiled "Everybody Breaks a Glass" and "Flux and Flow," which Lights describes as "the perfect marriage of this sweet melody and the hardest beat ever. It's about how that applies to life because you have to be soft and you have to be strong." Lyrically, the album is light years from her last, which was written when the singer, who spent much of her childhood travelling to places like the Philippines and Jamaica with her missionary parents, had left the nest and landed in Toronto. "A lot of those songs came from a sad but hopeful place. I was alone and pondering a lot. I'm a lot more aware of the person I am now and each of these songs is about an experience I've gone through," she says. "This record came from a very happy place." Then why is it called 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. The dividend from her early award-winning success--not to mention her sprawling online footprint which includes over a half-million Facebook fans and over a quarter-million Twitter followers, not to mention a cult fanbase amongst the Comic-Con set--is her current artistic freedom. Her up-for-anything experimentations with Holy Fuck produced an astoundingly eclectic album that belies its snow white title. Siberia's diversity leapfrogs from the hip-shaking dance-pop of "Toes" and the arms-up anthem "Banner" to the singer-songwriter-y romantic ballad "Cactus in the Valley," written on an acoustic guitar, and the nine- minute instrumental album closer "Day One" which sounds crafted by a rusty, lovesick robot--but that didn't make recording her sophomore album any easier. "For the first one, nobody had any expectations for what I was supposed to sound like. You write your first record only for yourself. You don't have fans yet and there are no preconceptions. So I had to reinvent myself all over again, rediscover myself as an artist and remember I can do whatever I want." Siberia`s beats skitter and thwack, the retro electronics fire like decomposing lasers and the analog synths dirty up her trademark pretty melodies, propelling Lights' emotion-soaked but still-cute croon into her sprawling, imperfect new sound. Call it anti-electro, dream-step or perhaps even grit-pop. Whatevs. Just rest assured that it's the same bright Lights; she's just built herself a bigger city.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No "softmore slump" for Lights. October 4, 2011

By Darius Jackson

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Siberia - Lights October 31, 2011

By xShotOfClarityx

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No "sophomore slump" - maturing sound follows up stunning debut December 10, 2011

By Andrew L

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.