Review By Emily Costantino

Yes, Lights is her legal name - she was born Valerie Poxleitner and takes her new moniker from a lifelong nickname. She's a Canadian electro-pop singer/songwriter, and she wraps you in soft, fuzzy blankets of synth and electronics rounded out by her sweet, girlish voice (which has garnered comparisons to Vanessa Carlton).

Lights describes her own music as "intergalactic," and that's probably the most accurate description you'll find. Indeed, her sound is otherworldly- but not "intergalactic" in a Beastie Boys sense. The Listening is spacey but dreamy, journeying through themes of insecurity and heartbreak in the most optimistic way possible.

"Savior" is a cool, gentle start to the album, with bubbly electronics and a chorus that swells beautifully. Lights hits some gorgeous notes on the slightly more melancholy "Drive My Soul." Probably the most upbeat and danceable song on the album is "Ice," with its rapidly-sung verses and a shout-out to Vanilla Ice. "The Last Thing on Your Mind" will probably sound familiar; along with "February Air," it was featured in an Old Navy commercial. It's a particularly soothing, sweet number with a chorus that will definitely get stuck in your head. Another standout track is "Quiet," which will have you swooning over lyrics like "I could wait a thousand hours/Stay the same in sun and showers/Pick apart a hundred flowers/Just to be quiet." Ending the album is a reprise of earlier song "Pretend," only this version is stripped of its futuristic stylings and features Lights alone on a piano. It's a lovely rendition that proudly displays her versatility and musicianship.

In case you need even more incentive to check out The Listening, this is what Lights' Myspace profile has under "sounds like": "A nervous sheep stradling a rocket to bring a daisy to a wolf in stilletos waiting lonely on the moon." We can't really disagree.