Dead Lights – Killing Time

Between apathy and ecstasy: Dead Lights' uncompromising opener “Killing Time”

The thing shoots through your sys­tem like an elec­tric shock – ‘Killing Time’ by Dead Lights sounds like a digit­al night­mare tak­ing shape on a cold dance floor. The intro is pure fever dream: dis­turb­ing, weird synth sounds that buzz like faulty machines in my head. I love how this moment sud­denly implodes after about 15 seconds and everything tips over into a crys­tal-clear, more har­mo­ni­ous sound. It's such a clas­sic Dead Lights moment – unpre­dict­able, but abso­lutely coherent.

The beat ham­mers away uncom­prom­isingly, almost bru­tally. Typical indus­tri­al, but with this smooth synth pop lay­er that holds everything togeth­er. It's this mix­ture that fas­cin­ates me. It reminds me more of Blackbook than ever before, except that Dead Lights sound less pleas­ing and all the more grim. The song oscil­lates some­where between mad­ness and per­fec­tion, between dance­ab­il­ity and the abyss.

The vocals are intensely dis­tor­ted – some­times a little too extreme for my taste – but they fit the empti­ness of the lyr­ics. "Every day I'm ter­ri­fied" – that line sticks with you. This feel­ing of inner stag­na­tion, of dullly con­tinu­ing to func­tion, runs depress­ingly through the song.

Visually, the duo deliv­ers once again: the music video is a real eye candy, full of con­trasts between cold­ness, beauty and decay. As the open­er of their 4‑track EP of the same name, the song is a state­ment – loud, dark, eleg­antly destructive.

Listen to "Dead Lights – Killing Time" on Spotify

Listen to "Dead Lights – Killing Time" on Bandcamp

Lyrics of "Dead Lights – Killing Time"

Every day I’m terrified.
It gives way as I repeat the lines.
Shovelling it in to fill the void.
Art, things, empty noise.

Close your eyes.
Open wide.
Killing time.

Making plans for bet­ter things.
Idle hands tease the trig­ger spring.
Every day, it’s more of the same.
Dreaming of ways to make you pay.

Close your eyes.
Open wide.
Killing time.

Don’t you feign surprise.
Killing time.
We’re killing words.
Or brain cells.
Whatever rhymes.
Look me in the eyes.
Killing time.
We’re filled with hurt.
And killing sells.
So do or die.

The shot, the fire,
shock it to me like a live wire.

Don’t you feign surprise.
Our apathy, it con­sumes the disguise.
Look me in the eyes.
And you’ll see me killing you.
Killing time,

Don’t you feign surprise.
Killing time.
We’re killing words.
Or brain cells.
Whatever rhymes.
Look me in the eyes.
Killing time.
We’re filled with hurt.
And killing sells.
So do or die.

Making plans for bet­ter things.
Idle hands tease the trig­ger spring.