Canadian JUNO winner and platinum-selling artist Lights put on a stellar spectacle in front of over 600 fans along with openers DCF and Dear Rouge at Algonquin Commons Theater the night of April 4.
She opened with two new hit singles titled: New Fears and Savage. Just after winning a JUNO for best pop album of the year with her new LP “Skin and Earth”, Lights’ performance was undeniably electric.
The 14-song album tells the story of an intrepid heroine in a dystopian future, bridging the gap between two increasingly divergent halves of society. Lights is translating this world to a vivid reality by writing and drawing a comic book series alongside the album, following the songs’ narrative entirely.
Largely, both the comic books and the album are about battling inner demons and the search for hope, even when life seems more bleak than ever. She has written and illustrated the whole series all of this through the eyes of her main character and alter ego, Enaia or En — who Lights says is basically, herself but in another dimension.
Fans of Lights love her her empowering music and her ability to get them lost in her voice.
Deana Hilhorst, a student here in the Vet-Assistant program, was at the show Wednesday and got to meet Lights and get her autograph. Deana has been a fan of Lights for 10 years and has read her comic series as well.
“Well, I have loved Lights for 10 years so anything she does is super cool and exciting to me. Her comics had a really intriguing storyline and it was extra fun to read them knowing she wrote and drew all of it on her own.”
As this is her fourth LP, her sound has taken an interesting turn. She incorporates more guitar and anger in her music now, which she says gives her artistic freedom. This isn’t the first time Algonquin has hosted Lights, but this time we got to see a whole new side to her.