The US-based sister duo Lavendine open their sophomore LP, Deep Blue, with City Lights, a crescendo-rich electro pop rock earworm that shows exactly how far their sound has stretched since the days of Open Up a Window and Rapture. Lavendine blurred alt-pop’s past, present and future within Deep Blue, and City Lights sets that tone immediately, mapping the emotional skyline of finally landing where your heart has been loitering for years.
From the neon streams of synths that nod to the playful polyphony of the 80s to the fervent empowerment that defined the 90s indie era and the glossy rush of contemporary dance pop, it is all written into the blueprints of the affectingly uplifting euphoria of City Lights. There is just enough sadness threaded through the vocal lines to justify the aural ecstasy that lifts you out of the pensive lyrical reflections on distance, belonging and the ache that builds when a place lives inside you for too long.
Harmonised to the nines through layered vocals that move as a single force with the production, and with subversive twists to keep the rhythms eager for the next melodic wave of tension and release, City Lights is a bittersweet love song for whatever street, person or skyline your soul calls home.
Sisters Jacy and Jana Ayers have walked a long, strange road to get here, from early church performances in Oklahoma to major AC chart success, serious health scares and a return to Nashville with a stronger sense of what they actually want to say. With Mark Needham, Ed Seay, Brian Pruitt and Danny Duncan helping to steer Deep Blue into focus, the record moves like a vivid recurring dream, and City Lights feels like the moment that dream finally touches concrete.
City Lights is now available on all major streaming platforms via this link.
Review by Amelia Vandergast