“Philly has this attitude that, ‘We don’t care, but we really do care,’” jokes Canadian electro-pop legend Lights, who’s spend quite a bit of time in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection over the past decade and a half, including a plethora of shows at The TLA. In fact, last time she played the South Street landmark (on 4/20 in 2022) she got the snake tattoo on her back courtesy of a friend who will be tattooing her once again when she’s in town to headline the Music Hall at World Café Live next Wednesday, June 4th.
I’m chatting with Lights over the phone, following her soundcheck at Denver’s Meow Wolf (one of those venues that looks like a Fillmore West concert poster come to life). She’s currently about halfway through the (A)LIVE AGAIN TOUR, in support of her aptly titled sixth full-length, A6, which had her taking on writing and producing duties entirely on her own for the first time. She tells me that she wouldn’t have been able to take on all of the album’s responsibilities if it wasn’t for her experiences with all the studio sessions dating back to her 2008 self-titled EP, but admits that sometimes they could be a bit awkward: “I’m trying to do something personal, and walk into a room with a bunch of complete strangers…”
Lights explains that, often times, the best part of working with so many other individuals was having people to bounce ideas off of, but admits that at this point, she’s totally comfortable doing it on her own: “I really wanted it to be true to my intentions, because it’s experience-based: grief and loss and love and growth… And I know enough about what I want to hear, and I was able to focus on every little detail, and I got to pick away at the songs for months and perfect it.” The title of the LP – which was produced between her home of British Columbia, Los Angeles, and Berlin – is a reference to A6 journals, with the record’s content drawing from the most intimate kinds of musings on the full range of her nearly four decades worth of life experiences, which has come to include some pretty impressive highlights.
“I have an in-game item named after me in World of Warcraft, I have a Simlish version of one of my songs, I have my side project, my DJ thing, and my record label. I own all of my masters… I have full creative control over my career. I never even could have imagined this when I started!”
Each of the 13 tracks of A6 is accompanied by an official video clip, the final nine of which dropped on May 2nd, the day of the album’s release. The visuals range from official videos for “ALIVE AGAIN” (which playfully references found footage and supernatural horror cinema) and “CLINGY” (a sort of 21st Century mashup of Mad Max and Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) to equally (and sometimes more) charming visualizers for “GHOST GIRL ON FIRST” (performing live on VHS from a garage mancave) and “DRINKS ON THE COAST” (major Warped Tour mermaid vibes). “It’s all just feel-y. There’s no storyline… It’s heart and experience and relatable emotion,” Lights tells me of the videos. And she admits that they turned out even better than she expected: “When I was coming up with the visuals, I was literally just closing my eyes and visualizing what it should be. And every visualizer that I pictured in my head was so close to the video.”
Despite close to two decades of extensive touring, Lights confesses that the (A)LIVE AGAIN TOUR has been extra special for her: “It’s just about all sold-out and that’s never happened. I’ve never had a sold-out tour!” She also says that her vast catalogue — which, in addition to the six studio albums, also includes more than half a dozen EPs and a number of acoustic/reimagined albums — has made it really easy to put a show together: “I think it’s my best setlist yet. It’s almost in eras. I pick out songs from a cross-section of my career that all have a similar vibe.” However, she does admit to being especially excited about the reception the A6 songs have been getting: “Everyone’s been singing along to the new songs… The other night, when I did ‘WHITE PAPER PALM TREES,’ me and the whole front row were in tears.”
Along with some of the most exhilarating shows of her career, Lights tells me she just really enjoys being on the road (She’s apparently a big fan of the shopping and cheesesteaks on South Street.): “I love spending time with my crew and with my band. They’re some of my best friends.” And, in addition to her own crew and band, she says that alt-pop singer/songwriter KiNG MALA (whose debut full-length, And You Who Drowned In The Grief Of A Golden Thing, dropped earlier this month), who’s providing support for the entirety of the (A)LIVE AGAIN TOUR, has been bringing additional good vibes.
“The whole crew’s awesome! She’s amazing! They’re all super cool… When I got into it in 2008, it was pretty much all boys, and I was the only girl. I mean, so much so that I couldn’t even talk about my period. But it’s all queer and non-binary and all women. It’s cool to see how things have changed over time.”
*Get your tickets here.
