The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse is the second studio album by British pop singer and songwriter Candi, due to be released via Blacklight Records on 14 January 2013. The album was written during 2011 and 2012, inspired by moments in Candi's life. Thematically, The Lighthouse' is intended to be more personal than her previous album, First Signs Of Sunlight (2011).

The album was noted for being recorded early, with writting beggining in early 2011, with Candi even commenting that she was working on her second album before her debut had even charted. The album was "basically completed" by February 2012, although when the chance arose in both artist's schedules, "Summer Nights" was recorded in April 2012 with both Candi and Crystal Barker. Candi revealed in March 2012 that she had written every single song on the album herself. The pop oriented album is, like her debut, mostly composed of uptempo songs and ballads. However, the presence of ballads is a lot more strong in this album. Like her debut album, Candi produced a few of the tracks on her album.

The album's first single "Summer Nights" was released in June 2012. It was a duet with Candi's best friend Crystal Barker and charted at #1. The album's second single "Best Damn Night" was released on the same week as the album, with both the single and the album hitting #1.

"Goodbye" was released as the third and final single from the album.

Background
In Summer 2011, Candi revealed that she had already began recording her second studio album, even before her debut was released. On December 23, 2011, Candi revealed her second album had been "finished for months". Even in February 2012, Candi revealed she had begun work on her third studio album, and wanted to release the second album as soon as possible, however she had a re-release of her debut "First Signs Of Sunlight" to release first.

On May 3 2012, Candi spoke about the album, stating: "It's a lot more fresh and light this album. There's a lot less songs about being hot and cute, and it's easily a lot more from the heart. Nearly all the songs are personal to me. Having said that, there is still a couple of dancey songs as I don't want to alienate my hotties (fans)."

The week before the release of "Summer Nights", Candi stated that if the single got to #1 she would reveal the title of her second album. The single managed to top the charts, and on June 20 Candi revealed the album would be called "The Lighthouse". Explaining why, she revealed "It's about being the one who shines the light on people when theres a hard time. It also shows my progress too. My first album was called 'First Signs Of Sunlight' and now you've seen my first signs, Im like lighthouse, giving of my own light, knowing my own style."

Recording and production
In March, 2011, Candi began recording her second studio album, working with Justin Parker and Elof Loelv. Candi and Parker booked three days in a studio in London in March. It was also confirmed that Candi worked with Sia Furler, Emile Haynie and Jeff Bhasker for her second album. In 2012, Candi revealed she was featuring no duets on the album, as she felt her sophomore album should be her chance to show what she's capable of doing on her own and to stand on her own two feet. However after an opportunity arose to re-write and re-record Crystal Barker's track "Summer Nights" and release it as a duet, Candi decided to make an exception, and included it on the album, making Crystal Barker the only artist to feature on the album, besides Candi herself.

Music and lyrics
Candi spoke on the album’s sound saying the biggest difference between her debut album and follow-up was the maturity and emotional changes. A lot had happened in Candi's life in between recording the two albums, such as the passing away of Candi's brother and her engangement to Callum Andrews. Candi's brother Jamie Elite of Difused spoke out about the album in an interview, stating "I've heard the finished album and it's really something special. Her debut was fun and girly, but this new one really shows how she's matured. She sounded like a girl on the last album, this time she sounds like a woman. There's some really deep songs about love, but the most moving ones are easily the ones about our brother's death. It's literally her heart and emotions laid open." Candi reveled during an interview with GQ’s “Men of the Year” that her album featured a lot more ballads than her first album. However she did state that she was aware her more pop tracks did better, so there were several of them too. But her priority was "critical and fan acclaim, not chart success."

Songs
The album's opening track "Best Damn Night" is a "gritty club banger". However about the track, Candi stated "With 'Best Damn Night' I didn't want it to be some generic throwaway dance track, I wanted it to stand out amongst the crowd. Although it's a club banger, it's lyrically very clever which sets it apart from the pack". "Daydream" is a mid-tempo ballad which incorporates electronic, soul and pop musical genres. It sings about being in love with someone, however then coming out of the daydream and realising that person doesn't actually love you. "China Doll" is another mid-tempo ballad, that see's Candi compare herself to a china doll, in that she is beautiful on the outside, but on the inside she is empty, with no sense of love. "Goodbye" is regarded as the stand out track on the album, with soft vocals by Candi and lyrics about the death of her brother, as he dies in her arms.

"Pucci In My Gucci" is regarded as more of an old-school Candi sound, with fun girly lyrics over a pop beat. It's lyrics refer to the stereotype of pretty girls (Candi herself in particular) carry a small dog (pucci) in their designer handbag (such as a Gucci handbag). "Shore" is a love song that makes many allusions to shipwreck, the sea, and water. "I Love You" is a deeply personal love song to Candi's faince Callum Andrews.

"Easy" is a dance-pop song that sings about a sleazy male trying to make sexual advances, in which Candi turns them down, stating she isn't easy. "So Sorry" is a violin-led ballad about cheating, from the persepective of the person who did the cheating. "Play With Me" is another pop track that refers to Candi as a toy, asking her partner to play with her.

"Hair" is a disco ballad that sings about someone with cancer loosing their hair, and Candi's admiration towards them. The final track on the album is "Summer Nights", a duet with Crystal Barker. The dance track is about reminiscing on past summer nights spend with a loved one.

Critical reception
The Lighthouse was well received by music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 34 reviews. Critics emphasised the album's artistic leap from Candi's debut in both its production and songwriting.Whereas First Signs Of Sunlight was regarded as a bubblegum, girly pop, Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune argued that, in comparison to her debut, The Lighthouse "beefs up the rhythmic drive and the drama of the arrangements."

In addition to the dramatic production, reviewers commended the added depth and Candi's maturity on the tracks. Gary McGinley of No Ripcord called the album a "coming-of-age record", while Simon Harper of Clash wrote, "[In] two years ... she's clearly seen the world. Where First Signs Of Sunlight marked the turbulent swan song to a teenage life, The Lighthouse introduces the realities of adult life, where grown-up responsibilities collide with heartache and emotional scars run deep." In a positive review of the album, John Murphy of MusicOMH called the album the first truly impressive record of 2013." Likewise, Sputnikmusic's Joseph Viney stated that "The Lighthouse still contained strong levels of femininity, however whereas First Signs was in the point of view from a girl, The Lighthouse shows Candi as a woman." Sean Fennessey of The Village Voice wrote that the album "has a diva’s stride and a diva’s purpose. With a touch of sass and lots of grandeur, it’s an often magical thing that insists on its importance." He commented on its musical significance, stating "the line here between melodrama and pathos is wafer-thin, and Candi toes it deftly. It’s what separates her from her contemporaries in the mid-’00s wave of British white-girl r&b-dom." Ian Walker of AbsolutePunk called the album a "pop masterpiece", but criticised its uneven feel, stating "tracks such as 'Goodbye' really set Candi as Uraps royalty. It's a shame that a track this perfect is on the same album as the generic track 'Easy'. while Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly listed it as "timeless". Q commented that, despite a "slightly scattershot quality ... greatness is tantalizingly within reach".

Candi's vocal performance was received favourably. The New York Times chief music critic Jon Pareles commended the singer's emotive vocals can seethe, sob, rasp, swoop, lilt and belt, in ways that draw more attention to the song than to the singer". Ryan Reed of Paste regarded her voice as "an angelic thing of beauty", while MSN Music's Tom Townshend declared her "one of the most underated vocalists of [our] era". However, some reviewers conceded Candi's vocal prowess as a liability to the album's production. Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine found that her singing masked the "blandness" of many of the songs. In his consumer guide for MSN Music, Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention, indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy." He cited "Goodbye" as the album's highlight, a view shared by most reviews.

Singles

 * "Summer Nights" was released June 11, 2012 as the album's lead single. The single was a duet with Candi's best friend Crystal Barker. Promotion for the single was shakey, due to personal reasons relating to Crystal, however due to the mass popularity of the two acts it still charted at #1, giving Candi her fourth chart topper. It went on to sell over 320,000 copies.
 * "Best Damn Night" was released on 14 January 2013, along with the album. It has been described by Candi as a "club stomper" and was well received by critics. It went on to chart at #1 on the singles, airplay and download chart.
 * "Goodbye" was released as the third single from the album on 15 April 2013. The song is a heartfelt slow song about loosing a loved one to cancer. It recieved critical acclaim and upon it's release, charted at #4 on the singles chart, becoming Candi's lowest charting single to date, and first to miss the top three.

Tracklisting
The tracklisting was officially revealed on 13 December 2012. Prior to it's reveal, it had been confirmed that every song was written by Candi herself.

Charts
The Lighthouse was released on 14 January 2013 and debuted at #1 on the album chart. This gave Candi her second consecutive #1 album, and first to debut at the top of the charts. With first week sales 116,593, it also gave Candi her highest first week sales. The album dropped to #3 in it's second week, behind 2 new entries, however it also reached silver certification. It has since achieved platinum status.

Charts
Overall sales: 831,935