Bright Light, Bright Light

Fresh from wowing the crowd at the Bristol 02 Academy on Pride Night synth-pop sensation Bright Light, Bright Light, Bright Light aka Rod Thomas about his Top 20 album, working with Elton John and his national TV debut.

You’ve got some impressive guests appearing on the new album, ‘Choreography’ Elton John and Ana Matronic being just two of them but how did you manage to get Alan Cumming involved?

He’s a friend of mine. All the guests are, the nice thing about doing things totally independently is that all the collaborations come from organic relationships, it’s been so cool. Alan and I met at a mutual friend Drew Brody’s show in New York. We were sat on a table together and started chatting, realised we have loads of friends in common and became friends! Crazy!

What can we expect from ‘Choreography’ any massive changes of direction?

There’s a lot more layering of organic instruments. I learned to play sax for the album, and I got Del Marquis to add a lot more guitar than last time round. But it’s still very synth and beat driven, so I guess it’s a 90mph version of what was maybe 70mph on the last records! It’s all based on my love of film, and dance sequences in films. I wanted to capture the energy and euphoria of those scenes, so hopefully it feels like that point in your favourite film that makes you feel empowered, free and full of joy.

Sir Elton John guests on a few tracks, what’s he like to work with?

So amazing. The brilliant thing about artists from his generation is that they’re just total stars. They’re famous because of raw talent. He is the biggest music fan and is up for doing anything he thinks is fun. He loves discovering new music and supporting new artists, so is the most incredible person to work with. We’d booked a studio to record his vocals for ‘All In The Name’, and as we had spare time I suggested doing backing vocals on the two others and he just said ‘yeah why not!” – amazing!

Who would be your dream collaborators on the next album?

In a total dream … Kate Bush, Royksopp, Goldfrapp, John Grant and Mariah Carey.

Do you think ‘Choreography’ will finally put ‘the boy Robyn’ comparison to bed or do you still quite like it?

I mean she is rather amazing, so I’m happy for that one to keep playing out … !

What inspired your move to New York a year or so ago?

I wanted a change of scenery to get new inspiration after making my debut album, and I had lots of friends there. Over the course of a few trips I’d met a bunch of musicians who were all very talented and really cool, Scissor Sisters being some of them, so I thought I’d like to see what would happen from making music somewhere new. And it was a lot of fun!

Was appearing on Graham Norton much fun and what was the best thing about it?

It was genuinely the most incredible experience of my life. It was my TV debut, it was the first time actually singing live with Elton, I was on a RIDICULOUSLY A-List sofa, I had some of my favourite people on stage with me, and it’s my favourite UK TV show of its kind, so literally EVERYTHING about it was the best thing.

Choreography by Bright Light. Bright Light is out now www.brightlightx2.com/music