''Little Machines'' is the third studio album by Canadian

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

singer-songwriter

Lights Light is an electromagnetic radiation, part of which stimulates the sense of vision. Light or Lights may also refer to: Illumination * Light bulb * Traffic light Arts and entertainment Music * Lights (musician) (born 1987), Canadian singer-son ...

, released on September 19, 2014, through

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. It was preceded in July 2014 by the release of its

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

Up We Go "Up We Go" is a song recorded by Canadian electropop artist Lights for her third studio album, '' Little Machines'' (2014). Written by Lights in collaboration with songwriter-producer Tawgs Salter, the song was released July 22, 2014 via LIGHTS Mu ...

", which debuted on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

at number 84. In October 2014, ''Little Machines'' debuted on the

Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...

at number five, and on the US ''Billboard'' 200 at number 34. The album sold 8,500 copies in its first week in Canada. On March 15, 2015, 'Little Machines' won the 'Pop Album of the Year' award at the 2015

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

s. The album title comes from a lyric in the song "Running with the Boys".

Background

After promoting the acoustic version of her second studio album, ''Siberia'', in 2013, Lights returned to the studio to work on new material. On ''Little Machines'', Lights was inspired by bold female artists including

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

, and

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''. Called the "punk poe ...

, while also wanting to remain accessible. Critics have noted the more lighthearted nature of lead single "Up We Go" in comparison to the grittier, more experimental

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

- pop of ''Siberia'', which is indicative of the sonic direction of the album as a whole. In an interview with ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', Lights explained that while she felt like taking risks on ''Siberia'', ''Little Machines'' was more about creating great "incredible songs that everyone can sing along to and lyrically latch onto" and then putting them together as an album. Working with producer Drew Pearson and Mark "Spike" Stent, Lights captured a "timeless electronic sound" and found herself lyrically gravitating towards themes of nostalgia and naivety. Lights has described the album as "a triumph after a hard dry spell" and "a complete journey, from front to back", noting that during the recording process she found herself "

urning Uranian (from Ancient Greek ) is a historical term for homosexual men. The word was also used as an adjective in association with male homosexuality or inter-male attraction regardless of sexual orientation. An early use of the term appears in F ...

to poetry, art and female songwriting legends ... and just enjoying erselfagain." Lights recorded the album while pregnant with her first child and noted that for certain songs she had to alter the way she sang due to her diaphragm muscles tightening. She recorded the vocals to the song "Muscle Memory" while in the early stages of labor which required her to take multiple breaks.

Promotion

''Little Machines'' was made available for pre-order on July 22, 2014, with lead single "Up We Go" also available for purchase at that time. The announcement came after a ten-day countdown on Lights' official social media pages. To promote the album, Lights toured in the US during the fall, starting October 24 in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

Singles

" was released to digital retailers and Canadian radio on July 22, 2014. It was serviced to

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

radio in the United States on September 9. It debuted at No. 84 on the ''Billboard''

for the week of August 9, and at No. 42 on the

Canada CHR/Top 40 The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

airplay chart for the week of September 13. The official music video premiered September 3. "

Running with the Boys "Running with the Boys" is a song recorded by Canadian electropop artist Lights for her third studio album, ''Little Machines'' (2014). It was co-written by Lights and the album's producer, Drew Pearson. The song was first released September 9, ...

" was released as the second countdown single on September 9, 2014. It was subsequently serviced to Canadian radio in January 2015 as the second official single off the album. The music video debuted January 30, 2015.

Other songs

* "Portal" was released to iTunes as the first countdown single on August 12, 2014, along with an official music video that premiered the same day. * "Same Sea" was released January 19, 2015 as the third promotional single off the album, with the

K.Flay Kristine Meredith Flaherty (born June 30, 1985), better known as K.Flay, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and rapper. Her debut album ''Life as a Dog'' was released in 2014, peaking on ''Billboard''s Heatseekers Albums chart at No. 2 ...

Remix premiering that day.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits and personnel for ''Little Machines'': *Matt Barnes - photography *

Beau Bokan Beau Mark Bokan (born November 30, 1981) is an American musician and singer best known as the former lead vocalist of Blessthefall, and the former vocalist of Take the Crown. Background On September 26, 2008, Bokan joined Blessthefall as the ...

- vocals *Joäh Carvalho - mastering *Jeff Fenster - A&R *Maurie Kaufmann - drums *

- vocals , bass, composer, creative director, drum programming, guitar, synthesizer *Blake Mares - assistant engineer *Pherbie Midgely - assistant engineer *Jay "Human Kebab" Parsons - composer, programming *Ashley Poitevin - marketing *Thomas "Tawgs" Salter - additional production, bass, composer, guitar, producer, synthesizer *Spike Stent - mixing *Alex Tenta - design and layout *Adam Weaver - synthesizer

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums Lights (musician) albums Warner Records albums Juno Award for Pop Album of the Year albums Albums produced by Drew Pearson (songwriter)