Lights- Little Machines (ALBUM REVIEW)

[rating=6.00]

Little Machines, the third LP from Canadian singer Lights, is a hook-laden collection of warm electropop that provides steady dance floor beats and enough variety to keep things interesting. The Canadian singer (real name: Valerie Ann Boxleitner Bokan) melds various pop influences with the electronic rhythm backing, combining huge sing-along choruses with floor-shaking beats.

The pulsing “Portals” slowly eases the listener into the album, the swirling bass notes building layers of texture around Lights’ soft vocals. Just as the song seems to build to a climax, it transitions to the second track, “Running With the Boys,” which is standard electropop fare but with electric guitars in the chorus giving it a bit more heft.

At times Little Machines can be a tad bland and soulless – a common critique of the genre itself – but for the most part Lights taps right into the pleasure center of the brain. The digitized treble-heavy beat of “Speeding” crashes into a wave of euphoric synths as Lights sings about casting inhibitions aside. “Muscle Memory” thrives on an insanely catchy rippling beat while “Slow Down” is carried by the dynamic shifts between the slow, soft verses and the loud, lively choruses.

Lights’ vocals, though somewhat lacking in range, mesh well with the sugary tone of the bleeps, bloops and dance hall synthesizer. The saccharine vocal tone sometimes conflicts with darker lyrics, such as when she sings “I want to die in love” in the uplifting track “How We Do It.” In “Don’t Go Home Without Me,” one of the album’s standout tracks, Lights worries about abandonment while appreciating the time spent with a lover.

There are three bonus tracks for Little Machines, including two songs that are iTunes exclusives, “Child” and “Lucky Ones.” Those songs bring added diversity to the album. The former finds Lights longing for the simplicity of childhood (“I’m still trying to see like a child does”), her struggle paralleled by music that shifts from morose in the verses to a forced optimism in the chorus. The latter explores isolation and regret with music that echoes off of desolate sonic landscapes.

With the bonus tracks Little Machines is one of the top electropop releases of the year, but even without it is still a solid effort. The repetitive moments and the overused reverb can be overlooked as the total package of the album delivers on its promise to inspire a night out ending with sore feet.