The trouble with acoustic records is that you know exactly what you’re going to get. They’re typical and predictable. Except this one.
When we interviewed Lights a while ago, she said every song starts as an acoustic one and the electronic and synth layers are added later for the studio version. Hearing this album is hearing how the songs were conceived. There’s not a single wrong note on here. It’s beautiful and clean and warm. It’s an acoustic set by your favourite band covering some of your favourite songs.
Siberia (Acoustic) certainly goes best when you’ve listened to (and memorized) the full studio album. It’s the yin and yang, the ketchup and mustard, the cream and sugar. So very different but so similar, and absolutely perfect together.
The songs on this album are very different. Some have sounds that you might expect from their originals, but even the heavy sounds from Flux and Flow and Toes are unique enough that they sound entirely different. Like when you’re out with friends and a local band is playing a song you love, but they’re doing it in their own unique way. Familiar, yet completely abstract and original.
If you like Lights, you’ve already got this album. If not, you need to hear the words and melodies on here as much as you should be appreciating anything from any other A-level Canadian artist. Lights is the real deal, and this is the time to pay attention to her.
The mark of good music is that which you can listen to anywhere. And Lights certainly delivers with Siberia (Acoustic). You can listen to her new acoustic tracks in any situation, regardless of what’s going on around you, and they’ll be able to mellow you out or pump you up in the right circumstances.
The piano of Siberia or the French accompaniment of Coeur de pirate in Peace Sign are just a few original changes made to these songs that make them seem somehow even more genuine.
At the end of the day, you just get a sense of Lights’ calmness and serenity through the recordings. These are the songs she wrote. The acoustics. The melodies. The harmonies. The souls.
To see an awesome behind the scenes of the making of Siberia (Acoustic), head over to PureVolume. or hit play below. Lights is currently on tour.