Review Summary: Lights demonstrates the versatility of her music.
In great contrast to the sweeping sonics and frostbitten synths of
Siberia, the acoustic companion-piece to Lights’ sophomore album arrives nearly two years after that album’s release, and shows just how capable her brand of frigid electronica is of taking on new and radically different forms. Atmospherically, these acoustic versions of
Siberia’s songs are still as cold and vast as the icy tundra, but the revision of the once electronic-dominated production through the leading acoustic guitars, somber grand piano, and dashes of subtle string arrangements makes
Siberia Acoustic much more bleak and numb than the original album. Not only that, the exchanging of
Siberia’s dancey new wave pulse for a placid pace also creates the barest music from Lights to date, that in turn fully brings into light the most emotionally vulnerable side of Lights’ personality for the first time. This album is also an important step in Lights’ artistic growth, as the dusky mood set throughout this session is the polar opposite of the cheery and dreamy bubblegum emo pop of her debut album
The Listening, and marks a massive progression in maturity while continually pushing the boundaries of her music style's usual creative limitations. While most acoustic albums prove to be forgettable and throwaway renditions of infinity superior songs, Lights has shown the proper way to go unplugged and remain just as interesting with
Siberia Acoustic. These aren’t just mere stripped down variants of indie electro pop anthems, these acoustic versions retain the shell of the originals, but flood them with all new emotions and characteristics that thematically give
Siberia’s songs a unique and distinct essence that makes them worth listening to for the sake of hearing them portrayed in completely different character at the very least.
