Francis Farewell Starlite, as well as having the coolest name in existence, is known professionally as Francis and the Lights. He came to my attention through his huge hit collaboration with Chance The Rapper (May I Have This Dance) and, though I fell in love with the track, remained devastated that he didn’t use his real name for his alt-RnB project.
His October 2018 release, The Video In The Pool, is typical of Francis. It opens with a digital electronic beat that wouldn’t feel out of place as the theme tune for an arcade video game. When the vocals come in, they are heavily autotuned and are reminiscent of 808’s and Heartbreaks Kanye West. It evokes an eery mystery that Francis is so good at, and it is a beautiful amalgamation of tributes to his influences; Kanye West as mentioned, Bon Iver, even Phil Collins/Genesis. There are elements of all in there and hopefully signals a new, longer project from Francis over the coming months.
As he released the song, he tweeted out David Hockney’s famous painting, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), and cements Francis’ seeming obsession with pools. The music video for this song clearly signifies he took a lot of inspiration from Hockney’s work, whilst the album artwork for his 2017 project Just For Us features a man preparing to dive into a pool. Perhaps, then, this is the follow-up piece to that photo and album, with a similar looking character being the focal point of the Jake Schreier-directed video?
Either way, it’s an interesting angle for an interesting artist to maybe go in with his work, creating links within all of his art, not just the music. The song fits beautifully with the video and it sounds like it is being listened to whilst enveloped by calm water. His discography is perfect to wind down and relax to, and The Video In The Pool is another haunting addition to that.
Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex
A Song A Day 