Released August 11, 2008 Length 3:12 | Genre Pop rock, new wave Producer(s) Santi White, John Hill | |
Label Downtown Records (US)
Atlantic Records (UK) Writer(s) Santi White, John Hill, Chris Feinstein | ||
"Lights Out" is the third single by American artist Santogold (now Santigold), taken from her self-titled debut Santogold (see 2008 in music).
Contents
Release and reception
It was announced on July 4, 2008 that "Lights Out" would be released as a single on August 11. "Lights Out", as well as an exclusive remix of the song, is used to promote Bud Light Lime. The remix was available as a free download from the beer's official website. Santi promoted the song on BBC Radio 1's popular Live Lounge programme, hosted by Jo Whiley. She performed "Lights Out" and a cover of Adele's "Hometown Glory". Lights Out also appeared in hit TV show Grey's Anatomy.
Rolling Stone compared "Lights Out" to "a lost Pretenders single." NME, meanwhile, said the song "harkens back to the sleek ’80s new wave of The Cars." Blender seconded the comparison, saying the "butterfly fragile" song uses "chunky Cars guitars and a plaintive early-MTV synth" as a "shy come-on". "Lights Out" also received comparisons to the Pixies; The Village Voice stated it "channel[s] the Pixies with a punk-pop sound fueled by spare guitar plucks, simple drum patterns, and lyrics delivered in a talk-sing stutter with random falsetto breaks." It "finds a fascinating middle ground between the Pixies and the Go-Go's", according to Pitchfork Media. Pitchfork Media placed it at #422 on its "Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s" list. PopMatters simply called the song "a sweet and eerie lullaby". ILikeMusic said that "under a pure fire pop chorus the track is as irresistible as gravity." The Manchester Evening News went as far to call the song "perfect, faultless: a complete peach."
Music video
The "Lights Out" music video was directed by Kim Gehrig. The music video premiered via Pitchfork Media on August 11, 2008. It features Santigold performing in front of various colored walls and patterns — zebra print, black-and-yellow gingham, a tropical theme, cheetah and tiger prints, flamingoes, feathers, and others.
Track listing
- "Lights Out" (radio edit) – 3:13
- Lights Out – 3:13
- Lights Out (Tepr Club Remix) – 5:40
- Lights Out (Tepr Emo Remix) – 3:37
- Lights Out (Kid Gloves Remix) – 7:30
- Lights Out (Dave Rubato Remix) – 3:16 (iTunes only)