BeatRoute Magazine BC Print Edition January 2018

LIGHTS
EXPLORING THE DARKER SIDE OF POP WITH A POST-APOCALYPTIC TALE
JOHNNY PAPAN
MUSIC
Photo by Matt Barnes
Toronto’s own Lights shows her growing maturity as an artist with Skin and Earth.
Skin and Earth is the fourth release to come from
Canadian-born synthpop artist: Lights. The album is an
exploration from her traditional upbeat pop-style to a
matured, darker subject matter while still implementing
nightclub grooves and atmospheric soundscapes.
Accompanying the new record is a complementary comic
series set in a post-apocalyptic world where its main
character, Enaia, is set on an empowering journey to find
strength in a climate of oppression.
“The basic story is this young woman who sinks into
a deep, dark place in her life. Within this darkness she
meets a friend who becomes the good and evil on her
shoulders,” explains Lights, who also wrote and illustrated
the entire comic series. “En is forced to look within herself
to find her own strength and hope within her darkness. I
think this story is really important because I’ve dealt with
depression in the past, I think a lot of people have, and it
feels the same for all of us. I think people shouldn’t look at
depression and think it’s because they’re weak or because
they’re different from somebody else or because they think
they’re just not smart enough to overcome it. It’s about
how you find your own strength, how you find your own
hope. Everybody has their own path and usually we have
to go through darkness in order to get to the good stuff.”
The story expressed in the album and comic serves as
much more than just a simple tale. Lights states that Skin
and Earth also aided her expedition into uncharted lyrical
territory, singing about formally untouched subjects such
as anger, frustration and sex.
“I wanted to be able to write about these things but felt
like I couldn’t because I didn’t have the conduit to say it. It
was probably this weird self afflicted syndrome where you
think you have to say what people want you to say. Lights
has always been positive and uplifting and that’s always
been the sort of music I’ve written. I think I got sort of
stuck in that.”
The upcoming tour is anticipated to be Lights’ biggest
production, performing the best of her releases thus far,
accompanied by visual imagery and storytelling linked to
the new record. If the album and comic aren’t enough,
Lights also wants to bring attention to her immersive
Instagram account: @skinandearthworld where you can
fully explore the Last City on Earth.
Lights performs at the Vogue Theatre (Vancouver) on
January 30 and 31.
BØRNS
STAGE MAGIC, ELECTRIC HEARTS AND SWEEPING FALSETTOS
ADAM DEANE
Some artists were born into greatness, others were
born with innate talents they’d realize later on, and
a very small select few — one— was just Borns.
Garrett Borns to be precise. A special brand of
magic must have moved through Grand Haven,
Michigan in the early nineties to produce a voice
like Borns, more commonly referred to and stylized
as Børns. The young man has a style that is all his
own to boot. Picture David Bowie meets Barrie
Gibb meets Gucci. Add about 10 inches of hair, a
killer-falsetto and more charm than that bracelet
you used to wear and you start to get the idea.
Garrett Borns’ electric heart inevitably grew
too large for its Michigan roots and propelled him
to become a superstar in his own right. With the
initial release of his first studio album, Dopamine,
the world soon realized just what he was capable
of. Even Taylor Swift tweeted about him. That’s
how you know you’ve made it. Though, this singer/
songwriter’s imagination isn’t limited to music.
Having caught up with Borns between meetings
and yoga, his patient and laid-back demeanor
rivaled his heart in size.
“I really feel like music is just one piece of
my artistic imagination. I try to write a lot of
short stories,” he says. “I have a poetic stream
of consciousness in my phone, which ends up
being a mess of words that eventually turns into
something. I want to get into more film scores,
possibly even making film.”
Borns’s career began at the ripe age of 10 as
“Garrett the Great,” a stage musician working his
January 2018
charm in local restaurants. Three years later he’d
go on to win an $8,000 art school scholarship and
a Gold Key Award for the “other” bits of his artistic
imagination. When asked when and how he finds
the time to produce all of this magic, his answer
was early and often.
“I’m a bit of a nocturnal animal at heart. There
is so much that can affect you during the day,
so many conversations to be had, your phone
buzzing. Your conscious is shifted; it allows you to
be a little more immersed in your art. Routine is a
very healthy thing for creativity, and I constantly
try to re-incent mine. I do a lot of yoga and try
to move as much as possible, especially when I’m
traveling in my capsule. Sometimes you just have
to jump and shake to get the blood (and your
thoughts) flowing.”
After an incredibly successful and hectic
tour-run with Dopamine, playing festivals like
Coachella, Austin City Limits, and even the
Tonight and Late Shows, Børns will release his
second studio album via Interscope Records, Blue
Madonna, on January 12. The two singles released
ahead of the album, “Faded Heart” and “Sweet
Dreams,” have already drawn massive success and
graced the charts this year.
With hits under his belt like “Electric Love,”
“10,000 Emerald Pools” and “Past Lives,” he’s
proved his voice to be unrivaled, intoxicating and
often times his highs rocket him out of every genre
society wields at him. Is he electro-pop, dreampop,
electro-funk… even psychedelic at times?
Who knows, who cares? His sound slithers through
a multi-coloured river of euphoria, leaving rich,
magical sparkles in its wake. Borns also the only
Michigan-bred human to rock a mid-driff Gucciblouse.
For that reason alone, you’ll want to catch
Garrett the Great, better known as Børns, on his
latest tour in support of Blue Madonna.
Børns performs at the Vogue Theatre on January 20.
Garrett Borns AKA Børns releases his latest offering Blue Madonna this month.
Photo by Chuck Grant
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