A6, the sixth studio album from indie pop artist Lights, delivers an album’s worth of warm, introspective synthpop but never lives up to the high standard of her previous releases. The Canadian artist has consistently demonstrated a diverse range of talents, self-producing her albums while playing most of the instruments, and writing and illustrating accompanying graphic novels. Previous albums have showcased impressive musical eclecticism, especially the genre-defying masterstroke, Skin & Earth. With A6, she scales back the influences and cuts out the heavy beats and rock elements. This is soothing synthpop, drawing on the softer side of 80s new wave without excessive histrionics.
The second half of the album is the most interesting. In “Piranha,” Lights sings about a toxic relationship with her saccharine voice contrasted by pulsing synths and a dark groove straight out of a haunted house. Moody, reverb-drenched guitar arpeggios create a sense of despair in the pessimistic love anthem “Ghost Girl on First.” In the outro, each repetition of the line “this time, I don’t think we’re coming back” feels more vulnerable.
The hook-laden “Clingy” takes a slow groove and adds much-welcome electric distorted guitars to an infectious pop chorus. “I feel you slipping through my fingers even when my heart is in your hands,” Lights sings, worrying that she’s putting more effort into the relationship than she’s getting back. “It’s not enough that you might want me. I’m hanging onto every word you say.”
The first half of A6 is solid, but has fewer standout moments. Each track offers a warm synthwave soundtrack to Lights’ introspective lyrics, retro reverb-heavy keys, and a combination of analog and electronic drums buttressing her confessions.
“I think I’ve been overcomplicating everything; I just wanna feel alive again,” Lights sings on the twitchy new wave number “Alive Again.” On the break-up ballad “White Paper Palm Trees,” Lights reminisces about a one-sided relationship that’s better as a memory than it was in reality. “Days go by that you are not even on my mind,” she reassures herself. When her ex comes “out of the woodwork,” she puts him in his place. “I was never what you wanted. You were just sad songs on my wall.” Her belted vocals in the song’s more emotional moments are some of the best singing of Lights’ career.
A6, like all Lights albums, is a passion project from a multi-talented artist. Though it doesn’t reach the artistic heights of albums like Little Machines and Skin & Earth, and the hooks and rhythms are less memorable, the soft retro-pop soundscapes meld her guitar licks, dreamy synth lines, and dance beats into a pleasant pop collection.
