Dead Lights – (The Edge Of) Dusk

Why Dead Lights' Change of Course Absolutely Pays Off

I don't know exactly what it is, but the new song "(The Edge Of) Dusk" sounds com­pletely dif­fer­ent from any­thing Dead Lights has pro­duced before. To me, it feels like a rein­ven­tion of the Dutch duo. The syn­thes­izer sounds are notice­ably new and, to my ears, sound sig­ni­fic­antly more har­mo­ni­ous than usual.

The vocals are par­tic­u­larly strik­ing: they're much softer and more mel­an­chol­ic, almost humble. When they sing about how "it's nev­er been so hard" and how they waited for each oth­er at the edge of dusk, it under­scores this new­found vul­ner­ab­il­ity. Perhaps this styl­ist­ic dir­ec­tion is just an excep­tion, but I abso­lutely love the new and softer synth pop sound. I sin­cerely hope for more songs like this that cap­ture this very spe­cial, gentle intensity.

Listen to "Dead Lights – (The Edge Of) Dusk" on Spotify

Listen to "Dead Lights – (The Edge Of) Dusk" on Bandcamp

Lyrics of "Dead Lights – (The Edge Of) Dusk"

I am here, do you see me?
Sing to me,
let me know you’re near.

Some things help,
For things too keenly felt.
I can lie to myself,
Drop a penny in the wish­ing well.
Passing months.
Playing dumb.
The day will come,
And we’ll stare into the sun.

It’s nev­er been easy,
But we’ve nev­er been this far.
It’s nev­er been much of anything.
It’s nev­er been this hard.

We’ve been wait­ing for each other.
At the edge of dusk,
The loom­ing hush.
The edge of dusk.
The sky…
A viol­et rust.

Waiting for so long.
I’ve been wait­ing for so long.

You don’t have to suf­fer to suffocate.
Always com­pelled to hesitate.
You don’t have to suf­fer to suffocate.
But it helps, I think you can appreciate.
I think you can appreciate…

That it’s nev­er been easy.
And we’ve nev­er been this far.
It’s nev­er been much of anything.
But it’s nev­er been this hard.
It’s nev­er been easy.
But we’ve nev­er been this far.
It’s nev­er been much of anything.
It’s nev­er been this hard.

I’ve been wait­ing for you for so long,
At the edge of dusk.

It’s nev­er been easy,
We’ve nev­er been this far.
It’s nev­er been much of anything.
It’s nev­er been this hard.