Music Review- Francis and the Lights

The new inaugural album of Francis and the Lights entitled Farewell, Starlite proves that they should just stick to singles. Francis and the Lights released its very first studio album that contains ten songs, on September 24, 2016. Though the name sounds like it’s a band it is actually just American, Francis Farewell Starlite who has been an active singer since 2007. He states “the lights” are whoever else is with him including his audience.

When I found out the genre was pop, I was expecting more of a mainstream sounding tune. For example, a catchy hook either in the beat or the lyrics. This album did not meet my expectations on what today’s pop music sounds like, which made me disappointed. Pretty much every song in the album was the same slower tempo with very little variation with voice inflection. Except for two songs that had a good-finger snapping rhythm, it was disengaging and I was bored after the fourth song.

The various instruments played throughout the album create a nice variation of instrumental dynamics by using occasional staccato beats. The use of piano, electric keyboards and drums help make the album not so monotonous like the vocals are. At times however, the instrumentals seem to over power the vocals so the lyrics tend to become inaudible. There is also a lot of auto tune effects in the vocals as well.When the vocals are audible, like when it’s just a piano accompaniment, Francis has a consistent smooth voice that seems to get monotonous. On top of that, it was hard to understand what some of the songs were about.

If you are  not a fan of mainstream pop and would like a mellow interpretation of a solo male artist, Francis and the Lights may be a good fit for you. If you are content with today’s mainstream pop, you may want to find a different album.

I personally am turning off the lights for Francis. I give this 2.5 stars on a five star scale.

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