Reviewed by Tony Cummings

One of the surprise additions to Radio One's playlist recently was "Saviour" by Canada's Lights. With its bubbling synth figure, thudding beat, anthemic chorus and brittle, little-girl-lost vocal, it was a near perfect pop confection. But, of course, what really made it stand out from pop's current crop of bump-and-grind sensualists was the lyric "I just want to run to you/And break off the chains, and throw them away/I just want to be so much/And shake off the dust that turned me to rust/Sooner than later, I need a saviour/I need a saviour." It turned out that Lights (born Valerie Anne Poxleitner) was the daughter of missionaries and one who, rather than neglecting the faith of her parents, embraced it to make it the focal point of many of her songs. (Lights' other hit song "Drive My Soul" has another memorable chorus "When you're gone, will I lose control/You're the only road I know/You show me where to go/Who will drive my soul.") Musically, Lights is in electro pop territory with plenty of loops and synth washes; not as quirky as Owl City or as experimental as Postal Service, but with an appealingly distinctive voice and occasional flourishes of memorable lyrics ("Don't think too hard, if you think it hurts that bad") ensure the album's undulating electro rhythms never reach overkill. NME called this album 'utterly unlistenable' but then, we all know where those Keepers Of The Cool journos are coming from.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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