Lights celebrates her musical and emotional journey on her sixth studio album A6.
Timmins-born Valerie Poxleitner-Bokan, known professionally as Lights, has been gripped by music since childhood, picking up a guitar in high school and writing music for television by the age of eighteen. In her twenties, she was signed by Underground Operations and released her debut album The Listening in 2009. Following the release of this record, she started her own label, Lights Music Inc., under which her newest album was released.
A6 begins with a fourteen-second interlude and a man’s voice saying, “Every day, you wake up to give music to, to people [. . .] Because this is your gift,” before Lights herself welcomes you to her newest creation. A6 is a dreamscape, composed of nostalgic tunes that feel at once familiar and imagined. Each track gives you a taste of something new; a hint of pop, a touch of alternative rock; a steady drumbeat, the addictive strumming of a guitar. Each song bleeds into the next, seamless as lyrics turn from heartbreak to rebirth.
On A6, Lights is throwing caution to the wind and embracing the uncertainty. Infused with elements of pop and rock, she charges in with soulful anthems for the lost and dangerously hopeful. Tracks like “SURFACE TENSION” simmer with emotion, threatening to spill over—but not with a loud explosion of vocals or drums. Instead, the addition of German verses works to build tension—a strong, hard language whose words land with a resounding punch.
But if you’re waiting for a climax here, don’t hold your breath. It’s a small detail that might have given this record a little something more, but Lights finds catharsis in other ways. Her soft, dreamy vocals are without a doubt a highlight of this album, and the variation of these vocals indicates where Lights is in her emotional journey. On “WHITE PAPER PALM TREE” she showcases her range, shifting from soft to firm vocals, short notes to long as the song builds; lyrics in “GHOST GIRL ON FIRST” are punctuated by syllables laced with emotion; she’s playful in “CLINGY” and desperate in “PIRANHA.”
And if A6 couldn’t get more personal, Lights is the sole songwriter for nearly all thirteen tracks. She expertly balances simplicity and poetry, ranging from verses like “‘Cause I am always in my head / And you are always on my mind” to “Like the shadow of a god / Just a figure in the fog / Only see you when I’m lost.”
Gloomy and sorrowful. Uninhibited and playful. Towards the end of the record, Lights is pulled in by the former. “PIRANHA” is tormenting her, the drums beat in time with your heart, but this fire dwindles, fading into an instrumental in the final track, “DAY TWO,” which fades into a serene send-off. Electronics take over, bringing a sense of ethereality to the record. The turmoil beneath A6 is forgotten.
It’s no wonder Lights has been so celebrated in Canadian music—her work shines impossibly bright.
Lights will perform at History on June 7.