Siberia

Siberia is the second studio album by Canadian recording artist Lights. It was released worldwide on October 4, 2011, excluding Australia (October 28, 2011) and the United Kingdom (March 12, 2012). Production was handled by Tawgs Salter and Canadian electronic band Holy Fuck, while featuring guest vocals from Canadian rapper Shad on two of the album's tracks. Musically, Siberia has been described as being "grittier" and "darker" whilst also incorporating "poppier moments", and while the album still uses prominent elements of synthpop, it also features influences of other genres such as dubstep and hip-hop and bitpop. The album has received generally positive reviews from music critics, with some commending Lights' vocal performance as well as the album's heavier and more mature sound, while others criticized its lack of variety. It debuted at number three on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling more than 10,000 in its first week, while also peaking at number 47 on the US Billboard 200 in the United States. It received a Juno Award nomination for Pop Album of the Year on February 7, 2012. It was certified gold on April 27, 2012 in Canada, denoting sales in excess of 40,000. The album spawned the singles "Everybody Breaks a Glass", "Toes", and "Where the Fence Is Low". Background Siberia follows Lights' debut studio album The Listening (2009), and her second extended play Acoustic (2010). After Acoustic Lights, a Tononto-based synth-pop artist, spent time searching for inspiration for her next album. Lights describes a night out in Montreal turning her on to dubstep, which she described as "heavy and raunchy but with this melody in there". At the suggestion of her manager, Jian Ghomeshi, Lights decided to collaborate with the Toronto-based electronica band Holy Fuck, who she had met previously at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. She stated she was drawn to their style of creating lo-fi electro sound using analog equipment, something she described as "a new way of thinking", and related with the band's focus on experimentation. Lights credited Crystal Castles, Bon Iver, Skream and Benga as musical influences for the album, as well as a book by artist Clyde Caldwell. The final track in the album, Day One, was a live recording of the last nine minutes of Lights' first jam session with Holy Fuck. Listening to it back the next day, they decided to keep the recording and turn it into its own track. Critical reception