We See Lights
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Music
Press
FROM the gorgeous hand-drawn and painted cover you know this band are going to be something special.
The seven piece from Bo'ness, Airth and Edinburgh create an airy hybrid of Americana and Scottish folk, singing in their own Scottish accents.
First tune Bright Lights is an atmospheric opener, repeated phrases over a repeated guitar riff it ebbs and flows like a swelling sea.
Second song Try is more structured. Upbeat with a stomping drum and violin is like The Proclaimers mixed with Travis. Landmine Hearts has the chime of U2-era The Unforgettable Fire and the Lullaby voice of The Cure's Robert Smith as the lyrics reveal: "all your love is wasted on you". Shy is pastoral Proclaimers while final track Vines hints at Scottish traditional folk music but adds a driving guitar. Without a doubt I've seen the lights.
- The Daily Record - Scotland
If the thought of repetitive chanting and ethereal angel choruses brings you out in a rash, you can rest assured that young Scottish collective We See Lights ain't no New Age hocum. Instead they're a dream-pop-flavoured indie band that could really blossom if they focus on that distinctive sound, as highlighted on the title track to this self-titled debut EP. The maudlin violin and heavily-strummed guitars on Try cleverly depict the strain of the singer as he describes a failing relationship, while the performance of Shy's fantastical story is worthy of a Broadway musical - or Bedlam, at least. The EP isn't all great, but if they're looking at lights, we hope it's distant stardom. - The Skinny - Scotland
The Edinburgh-based seven- piece boast a multi-instrumental line-up and boy/girl vocal harmonies but, unlike similar bands, they eschew the trend for all upbeat to return to what Scots bands do best – being miserable. Their distinctly Scottish sound was evident in every song, from acoustic laments to rousing indie epics, ending with the super Loose Lips Sink Ships. - The Sunday Mail - Scotland
We See Lights offer up songs that are instantly familiar due to the jangly, breezy sound that has become a bit of a Scottish tradition. The sevenpiece deftly flirt between maudlin and upbeat through a set of bittersweet love songs. Catchy new song Break My Fall documents the emotional process of rebound relationships and has the audience clapping their hands like the song is an old favourite. As a duet between the lead male and female singers, it strangely recalls I Got You Babe, but serves up for a more jaded generation. - Sunday Herald - Scotland
What indeed is the Sound of Young Scotland? Previously it was all post rock around here, before those mid-Atlantic twangs crept in. Now, rightly, bands are unafraid to sing in their own accents - perhaps even over-accentuating? Musically, too, there’s a sense of history and belonging - via the most obvious, indigenous route, folk rock. Bands are reinventing themselves and perhaps using a Fence blueprint, though in the case of a few acts, it’s our Canadian cousins who supply the inspiration. Broken Social Scene and, crucially, Arcade Fire, seem to loom everywhere - our own Make Model an example of a band who’ve taken that big multi-member sound and adopted it for their own ends.
We See Lights I’m sure haven’t based themselves on Make Model - too close to home, surely? - but the similarities are there to see and hear - massive lineup, ever-present female vocals, at least half the members taking an active part in the songwriting process, and, most noticeably, they’re quite a band of misfits - and I mean that in the nicest possible sense, with indie, folk and more rock-oriented members in the lineup. Happily the results are good and that’s surely what counts, a bunch of rousing singalong anthems are on display. Even when the leather-jacketed singer takes over we have something which is more Justin Currie than anything, but I defy anyone to deny that ‘Nothing Ever Matters’ was a good song, before it all went American AOR. When the other members take over it’s rather closer to the twee stylings of My Latest Model (yes, they were bound to get a mention eventually!)
- Is This Music - Scotland
Discography
EP 'We See Lights' released December 2007. Single 'Parachute' December 2008. (BBC Radio Scotland Record of the Month November 2008). EP 'Snow In The Sand And Sky' March 2009. LP 'Ghosts And Monsters' 2010.
We See Lights have received regular airplay on Radio 1, Radio Scotland (including an acoustic session recorded after our performance at T In The Park), XFM (Showcase Artist of the Week) and on 6 Music. WSL tracks have also been featured on RNE3 and Cielo Liquido (both Spain) and Indie 103.1 (Los Angeles). Other US Radio Stations to feature We See Lights include KNRK "947FM" Portland, OR, WCNR Charlottesville, VA and WEQX Manchester, VT and Albany, NY, KCCQ Des Moines/Ames, IA and YrockonXPN WXPN Philadelphia. Radio stations in Berlin, Stuttgart and Brandenburg also regularly playlist the group. We See Lights recorded a further live radio session for BBC Radio Scotland in December 2008.
Photos
Bio
One might say that We See Lights are part of the “Scottish nu-folk revolution” which has been creeping
across blogs, iPods and mixtapes for the last few years. If there is such a tag, then We See Lights would
sit happily within it. As early contemporaries of Frightened Rabbit, Broken Records, We Promised Jet
Packs et al, We See Lights have been pioneering the Scottish accents and “Folk n Roll” from Toronto to
Wick since 2008. As one recent review said “WSL could be the indie Runrig, or a My Latest Novel
destined for the charts rather than the empty rack marked ‘seminal’ in that great record store in the sky.”
Yet to describe We See Lights as an “indie Runrig” is to miss the fiddles, harmonicas, harmonies and
glockenspiels -- not to mention the song craft -- which gives sophistication and lightness to their music.
With three song writers, the bands sings of lost loves, sailing ships and ghosts and monsters on a winter’s
day. We See Lights take these themes and channel them through big choruses and evocative verses with
strong melodic sensibility, all the while singing in the fine tones of their Scottish accents.
The band, taking a different direction from their contemporaries, choose to fund and release their debut
album (“Ghosts & Monsters”, March 2010) with the aid of the Scottish Arts Council. It’s these kind of
moves which have marked the band out as uncommonly independent and self-sufficient. But this
independence manifests in a sense of creativity and fun too: this is a band who will “bring a smile to your
face.” If you catch a live performance, you’ll often end up surrounded by the ever-changing band line-up (at
last check there were 7 members!) having left the stage in search of more fun. While it’s clear that this
independence comes from a band whose work days are spent in an office, a band who make this music for
fun rather than recognition, you should not mistake this fact for a lack of belief or passion. Listen to them
just once and you’ll know their commitment.
This belief and passion has taken We See Lights far; they have travelled from Toronto to Wick since
forming in January 2008. They’ve played the Wychwood Festival, T in the Park, the Isle of Wight
Festival, the PRS stage at the Edinburgh Festival, the Edge Festival, Canadian Music Week, GoNorth,
RockNess, Solas Festival, and Greenbelt.
Many bands in Scotland peak early and fade after an appearance on T in the Park’s Tbreak Stage, but We
See Lights are a band with depth, purpose and a great deal still to offer. Not a resounding flame that
catches your eye only to fizzle out into a spark, they are instead like the warm, glowing fire which sustains
and balances itself, burning on and on and on...
The band is self-releasing their next EP, “Twee Love Pop”, in April 2011 on their newly formed label
heroes&gluepots.
Links
