RandomReview: "Midnight Machines" by Lights

Album Review: "Midnight Machines" by Lights

An underrated singer that I'm a big fan of is Lights, a female singer who finds the right balance between EDM and pop in her music. She has a beautiful voice that fits perfectly over the beats she has. Despite how good her music is, she is also a quality acoustic singer, and isn't afraid to share it. Videos of her acoustic songs are common to find on YouTube, and she makes albums after her albums, in which she sings the previously made songs in acoustic form. Her recent acoustic album, "Midnight Machines" bases itself off the previous 2014 album "Little Machines." While "Little Machines" maintained an upbeat vibe, "Midnight Machines" is a much different case. The melodies of "Midnight Machines" are much more calmer, sad at times. If we judged on instrumental alone, this album would be a 10/10. The instrumental music is absolutely beautiful.

I took the liberty to judge each song individually out of 10.

"Up We Go" gets a 10/10. While the hit song from "Little Machines" was vibrant and preppy in its previous iteration, this version is much more methodical. It's sweet and more to the heart. It flows nicely, and the voice Lights gives in this version is beautiful. I would say it's superior the original in every way. It's definitely one of the best on the album. I recommend giving it a listen when you get the chance.

"Same Sea" gets a 7/10. It's alright. Not her best, assuredly, but still pretty good. She starts the song a tad awkwardly, but she still does a nice job throughout. My main problem is the way she delivers here at times. I feel like she'll put more passion into the words, but she remains in her calm tone. She also changed the chorus slightly in delivery as well. Instead of singing "Same Sea", Lights instead goes for "Same... Sea." I'm not sure what she was going for with that. It would've sounded better if she used the original style of chorus. The original was definitely better. This version isn't bad, though.

"Follow You Down" gets a 9/10. This is one of the two original songs Lights made for this album. This isn't a version of a previous song at all. It's utterly beautiful, to put it simply. I listened it for a few times, though, to get that verdict. At first, I settled on a 7, but this one is definitely worth higher than that. The "down, down, down" part of the chorus could've ended a little better, which kind of irks me, but otherwise it's one I'll definitely be downloading and listening to now.

"Meteorites" gets a 9/10. Lights is a beautiful harmonizer, especially in the gap before her last chorus here. I think she broke away from the acoustic slightly here, with some editing towards the end if I'm hearing right. I sort of like the original a bit better, though. The catch in her voice was a bit more replay-worthy in the original, but it shouldn't discredit this one. This version is very beautiful as well.

"Don't Go Home Without Me" gets a 6/10. My main problem with this one is that the vocals and instrumental don't really feel like they match. If we were to separate the two, I'm sure they'd sound great on their own. It didn't really click for me in this sense. That really ruins it for me. It doesn't go any lower than a 6, though, since they're both beautiful aspects on their lonesome, and do end up clicking at certain points. I like the original more compared to this one.

"Running With The Boys" gets a 9/10. I've noticed by now that Lights has a talent for ending songs very well. She always starts off very subtle and calm, while increasing towards a overwhelmingly great ending chorus. "Running With The Boys" is lovable from its gentle chorus, succeeding in surpassing the original from how casually uplifting it is in its calm melodies. She has single-handedly turned a song I was lukewarm on into one that I dearly enjoy.

"Head Cold" gets a 5/10. Thankfully, this isn't the last song. Else, it would've left the album on a sour note for me. It's the second original song on the album, but I don't think she did a good job. I know she can do better than this. Her delivery on the chorus endings sounds like a cat. Ugh. Not good.

"Muscle Memory" gets a 10/10. "Muscle Memory" was one of my favorite songs on the original album besides "Oil and Water." The song was catchy and upbeat. This version is much different. It's a much darker, more sorrowful song, with a sad instrumental best behind it. I would have to put it a tad higher than the original, I must say. I don't often here a sad song delivered in such a calm, gentle, tone. She puts a ton of passion behind the final chorus, and it's beautiful. Lovely work.

If I averaged the scores for each song individually, the number I'd reach would be an 8.1/10. I think that's pretty accurate for this album. It's only eight songs in total, which is a shame. I wish the album was much longer than that. The two original songs were nice to have as well, to keep things fresh, although I wish "Head Cold" turned out better. Overall, I think Lights did a great job with this album. The renditions of the previous songs were great, though I do think her previous acoustic album was much better. I would definitely recommend checking out her songs if you've never heard of her. She's really good at what she does, and is totally an underrated singer.

8.1/10

Great