Toronto musician Aiko Tomi refers to her latest single as an “alt-pop anti-anthem”. In “Some Lights Need to be Dimmed”, she throws shade at an over-stimulating world obsessed with shine.
“Most people who are active on socials are trying to chase a certain degree of fame,” Tomi tells Pancouver over Zoom. “And because platforms often favour sensationalist and… more spicy content to get views and reactions, that kind of thing gets pushed forward. What ends up happening is it becomes this weird rat race of who can be more outrageous and who can be more in your face.”
Her cutting lyrics are offset by swirling, textured electronic music, resulting in an uplifting-sounding pop song with considerable bite. That’s reflected in the chorus:
It’s a nice thought to let everybody shine
But some nights, it gets too bright
It’s a nice thought to let everybody win
But some lights need to be dimmed
In her earlier projects, Tomi often came to the production process with song demos. This time, however, she only had the concept—“Some Lights Need to be Dimmed”— in mind when she began working on it with producer, Andrew Rasmussen.
“He started messing around with some instrumentals, and I just started singing over it,” Tomi says.
She opened with: “They say there are no bad ideas, but there are”, which turned out to be the opening lyrics in the final version. “We pretty much wrote the first half of the song, and went for a coffee break feeling excited about how it might turn out.” Tomi says.
Rasmussen’s pounding bass synths and beats complement Tomi’s distorted calls to “shut the fuck up” in a punkish closing crescendo. This encapsulates Tomi’s belief that when there’s too much noise on social media, those who truly have something important or interesting to say can be drowned out.
“If I had to sum up the song quickly,” Tomi explains, “I’d say … where there’s light pollution, you can’t see the stars.”
The Taipei-born musician acknowledges the irony of calling for lights to be dimmed as she is building an audience as an independent artist, sometimes with the help of social media.
“I think many artists wonder ‘How do I stand out in this sea of other people each trying to be seen?’ I try to do things in way that reflect my real preferences, inspiration and energy,” she notes.
The classically trained Tomi gravitated to writing eclectic, danceable pop songs because that’s her aesthetic preference. And she enjoys marrying this music to thought-provoking lyrics in original compositions such as “Monolids”, “Animal’s Awake”, and “Handful”, which are part of her recently created Spotify playlist.
The playlist also includes “Some Lights Need to be Dimmed”. Check out the lyrics below.
“Some Lights Need to be Dimmed”
They say there are no bad ideas, but there are
Half the neighbourhood judging you by your car
And no one ever said life wouldn’t be hard
Half the time I’m throwing long shots in the dark
Love me love me love me
Shiny shiny shiny
There’s my silver lining
Crawling out of hiding
Dark mode
I’m Incognito
Light comes through the window
I gotta fix the leaks though
Summertime in Tokyo
My life giving you FOMO
Clean ass thanks to TOTO
Check check check that ego
It’s a nice thought to let everybody shine
But some nights, it gets too bright
It’s a nice thought to let everybody win
But some lights need to be dimmed
They say there are no bad ideas but there are
Half the time I’m guilty but I still deny the charge
Wave a million in the air and you can be a star
Half the city surfing on a deck of credit cards
Love me love me love me
Shiny shiny shiny
There’s my silver lining
Crawling out of hiding
Dark mode
I’m incognito
Gurakawa angel
Writing up my sequel
Finger on the keynote
Automatic reload
Stuck on salty sweet mode
Sugar rush no keto
It’s a nice thought to let everybody shine
But some nights, it gets too bright
It’s a nice thought to let everybody win
But some lights need to be dimmed
It’s a nice thought to let everybody shine
But some nights, it gets too bright
It’s a nice thought to let everybody win
But some lights need to be dimmed
It’s a nice thought to let everybody shine
But some nights, it gets too bright
It’s a nice thought to let everybody win
But some lights need to be dimmed
It’s a nice thought to let everybody shine
But some nights, it gets too bright
It’s a nice thought to let everybody win
But some lights need to be dimmed
Shut the fuck up!
Shut the fuck up!
Aiko Tomi will perform at Jade Music Fest in Asia. It takes place on April 27 and 28 at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei. Admission is free. Follow Aiko Tomi on Instagram @aikotomic. Follow Pancouver on Instagram @PancouverMedia.
