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ALERT: There’s a single coming out and it’s basically brilliant. The song in question is called ‘Love Part II’ and it’s by Bright Light Bright Light.
Bright Light Bright Light is singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rod Thomas. He’s already found fans in Lauren Laverne, Rob Da Bank, Huw Stephens and Tom Robinson, while the download-only, Boom Bip-produced Bright Light Bright Light track ‘A New Word To Say’ caused some pleasing ripples when it appeared earlier this year.
Rod says that the euphoric theme of ‘Love Part II’ is about the point “just when you’ve convinced yourself that it’s a waste of time trying to find a relationship, then you have a moment that spins you right back round and makes you feel it’s possible again. Something will always come along to spark your mind.” He adds that he’s “not quite as optimistic as the lyrics would have you believe, but I like dancing precisely as much as the beats suggest”.
‘Love Part II’ is produced by Andy Chatterley (Kylie, Nerina Pallot, Diana Vickers) and its b-side, ‘Cry At Films’, features guitar and backing vocals from Scissor Sisters plank spanker Del Marquis. The package is topped off with an amazing and frankly preposterous rework courtesy of Pepptalk.
Bright Light Bright Light at a glance:
★ Bright Light Bright Light is actually called Rod Thomas. Rod grew up between two villages in Wales, just outside Neath, next door to an old coal mine. There is a waterfall there, and if you’re up for a car journey there’s a dinosaur park with some caves. To cut a long story short, he now lives in London.
★ ‘Love Part II’ is the first proper Bright Light Bright Light single but Rod has already picked up a bit of a following with some rather good but not exactly danceable folk stuff. Releases like ‘Same Old Lines’ and ‘You Get Goodbyes’ got a lot of attention from people like Huw Stephens, Rob Da Bank and Lauren Laverne.
★ If you ask him a fantastically subjective question like “why did you decide to stop being boring and start being amazing”, Rod will say, simply, “I prefer being amazing”. He adds: “I’d always had the want to make electronic pop music but I wasn’t able until quite recently. There was a long period of messing around with laptops. I really like going out and having a good time and being ridiculous and I wanted to make music that felt like that: darker with a top sheen to it.”
★ ‘Love Part II’ was the second song Rod worked on with producer Andy Chatterley. He says that the song’s euphoric feel mirrored the explosion of creativity he felt during those sessions, having written by himself at home for months previously. Other tunes, like ‘Good Times’ and ‘Disco Moment’, are similarly incredible.
★ Rod runs his own label, Self Raising Records, and is a member of east-London party ‘collective’ Sink The Pink, described by The Guardian as “what happens when Studio 54 links up with a toddlers birthday party in a suburban ball pool centre”.
★ When not a-warbling his own tunes, Bright Light Bright Light knocks out remixes of other artists’ work – recent versions of Kelis ‘Acapella’ and Ellie Goulding’s ‘Under The Sheets’ are worth a listen.
★ The story behind Del from Scissor Sisters turning up on ‘Love Part II’ b-side ‘Cry At Films’ is that Rod enjoyed Del’s solo material and informed Del of this fact via the medium of ‘the internet’. They kept in touch and went for dinner when Rod was in New York last year. On the flight home Rod worked on ‘Cry At Films’. “I asked him if he’d be up for doing some vocals, and in the end he gave me a ridiculous guitar solo as well – amazing.” If Bright Light Bright Light’s life were a film, he says, it would be a cross between Amelie and Beetle Juice.
★ Rod’s favourite band is Ace Of Base. He is APOPLEPTIC that they recently reformed with two new women on vocals.
