NEW 'LIGHTS' TRACK

"I know where I am when you're here."


One of my favourite up-and-coming artists, young Torontonian Valerie Poxleitner who goes by the stage name of Lights, has dropped a few new songs into the interweb. I've had 3 or four of her songs for months, waiting for more output, and lo and behold, I hear a new song on an Old Navy commercial! All the power in the world to her on that front, as I'm hoping it'll give her some great exposure. We know from the overnight success of Feist that great music + popular commercial = greatness.

Is Lights' music great music? Not quite yet, though I think she has potential to be a great pop artist without selling her soul (or in the case of Spears and her ilk, body and mind as well). She's pretty new to the scene compared to the greats, and that's okay because it leaves her room to grow. Her music is nice, poppy and just makes me grin when I hear it.

That room to grow is shown both ways in her new song, "Drive My Soul", which I'm divided on. The core concept, comparing a soul to a car and driving, feels very tween, very Avril Lavigne, and that weakens the message. But the song itself, even when the songwriting dips, is pretty damn enjoyable because our girl manages to sell it, and the song has a couple really nice moments. The music is exactly as we expect from Lights, and the vocals are just vulnerable enough to make the sometimes cringeworthy lines feel genuinely expressive. Really, it sums up a lot of my feelings about her music - it could be great pop to hop to, once she starts pronouncing "February" right and letting her songs grow into themselves.

The other newbie, "White" is nice and doesn't present the flaws of "Drive" so obviously - but, alas, doesn't capture my attention in the same way either. When it comes to Lights, I'd say get on the train now, because the only direction I see her going in is up.

Lights - Drive My Soul

MYSPACE (including previews of "Drive My Soul" and "White", as well as "I Owe You One" and "February Air")