Bright Light Bright Light
{{Short description|Welsh singer-songwriter (born 1982)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| background = solo_singer
| name = Bright Light Bright Light
| image = Bright Light Bright Light Moves 1.jpg
| caption = Bright Light Bright Light performing in September 2016
| birth_name = Rod Thomas
| alias =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1982|10|30}}
| birth_place = Neath, West Glamorgan, Wales
(now in Neath Port Talbot County Borough)
| origin =
| genre = Electropop, dance, disco, house, alternative
| occupation = Singer, DJ, composer and producer
| instrument = voice, piano, guitar, saxophone, bass, ukulele
| years_active = 2006–present
| label = Self Raising Records, YSKWN!
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
Rod Thomas (born 30 October 1982), known professionally as Bright Light Bright Light, is a Welsh electro-pop singer, DJ, composer and producer based in New York City.{{Cite web |last=Jon |first=O'Brien |title=Bright Light Bright Light Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bright-light-bright-light-mn0002528456#biography |access-date=25 September 2024 |website=AllMusic |language=en}} Bright Light Bright Light incorporates many elements of nu-disco into his music, also branching into synthpop, dance and house music. Four of his albums have reached the top 20 on the UK Independent Albums Chart.{{Cite web |date=28 July 2016 |title=BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/23779/bright-light-bright-light/ |access-date=25 September 2024 |website=Official Charts |language=en}}
Career
=1982–2009: Early years=
File:Rod Thomas Trickledown.jpg
Thomas grew up in a small village near Neath, Wales,{{cite web|url=http://swnfest.com/lineup/bright-light-bright-light/|title=Bright Light Bright Light|publisher=swnfest.com|access-date=27 December 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923144320/http://swnfest.com/lineup/bright-light-bright-light/|archivedate=23 September 2012}} and learned several instruments as a child, including piano. His first forays into music were more folk-based, led by acoustic guitar with, due to a lack of equipment, minimal beats around it. Thomas later stated his dalliance with folk was due to his lack of knowledge with production techniques, and that he was always drawn to house and synthpop.{{cite web|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/05660-bright-light-bright-light-interview|title=I'm Not Some Sort of Genius: Bright Light Bright Light Interviewed|date=8 February 2011|access-date=27 December 2012|publisher=thequietus.com|first=John|last=Freeman}} He left Wales to take a place reading English literature and creative writing at Warwick University, then made the move to London.{{cite web|url=http://welshmusicprize.com/make-me-believe-in-hope-bright-light-bright-light|title=Make Me Believe in Hope – Bright Light Bright Light|access-date=27 December 2012|publisher=welshmusicprize.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231144156/http://welshmusicprize.com/make-me-believe-in-hope-bright-light-bright-light|archive-date=31 December 2013|url-status=usurped}} In London he set up a studio at home, and spent rush hours busking busy London tube stations.{{Cite web |last=Kleinmann |first=James |date=18 September 2020 |title=Exclusive Interview: Bright Light Bright Light takes us on a guided tour of his new album Fun City "for queer people pop music has always been a kind of safe haven" |url=https://thequeerreview.com/2020/09/17/exclusive-interview-bright-light-bright-light-new-album-fun-city-for-queer-pop-music/ |access-date=25 September 2024 |website=The Queer Review |language=en-US}} In 2009, he sent demo tracks to American producer Boom Bip, resulting in Thomas being invited to Los Angeles for two weeks to collaborate on tracks. Thomas stated Boom Bip's production on the song "A New Word to Say" helped him find "my sound".{{Cite web |last=Elfyn |first=Bethan |date=30 September 2010 |title=Interview: Bright Light Bright Light |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/walesmusic/2010/09/interview-bright-light-bright-light.shtml |access-date=25 September 2024 |publisher=BBC |language=en}}
=2010–19: Bright Light Bright Light=
Thomas released "Love Part II", his first single under the name Bright Light Bright Light, in 2010 on the Popjustice Hi-Fi label. Thomas chose the name Bright Light Bright Light from a quote spoken by the character Gizmo in the 1984 movie Gremlins.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/jun/30/new-music-bright-light-disco-moment|title=New music: Bright Light Bright Light – Disco Moment|access-date=27 December 2012|work=The Guardian |date=30 June 2011|first=Michael|last=Cragg}} 2010 also saw him tour as the support act for Ellie Goulding. The singles "Disco Moment" and "Feel It" followed in 2011 and 2012, and, after appearances at Bestival in the UK and South by South West in the US, he released his debut album Make Me Believe in Hope in 2012.
The album tracks on Make Me Believe in Hope were co-written and produced by Thomas, The Invisible Men and Andy Chatterley. The album features several collaborations, including vocals from Scissor Sisters' guitarist Del Marquis on the track "Cry at Films". Make Me Believe in Hope was released in the UK on 4 June 2012 through independent label Aztec Records, and the album received generally positive reviews, with The Fly magazine noting the album among releases that just missed its annual top 50.{{cite web|url=http://www.the-fly.co.uk/blog/1016211/missed-the-50-bright-light-bright-light-make-me-believe-in-hope/|title=Missed The 50: Bright Light Bright Light 'Make Me Believe in Hope'|work=The Fly Magazine|access-date=27 December 2012|first=Michael|last=Cragg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201180438/http://www.the-fly.co.uk/blog/1016211/missed-the-50-bright-light-bright-light-make-me-believe-in-hope/|archive-date=1 February 2013|url-status=dead}} The album was voted at number 4 in The Guardian's Reader Choice: Best Albums of 2012.{{Cite news |last=Boult |first=Adam |date=21 December 2012 |title=Best albums and tracks of 2012: readers' choice |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/dec/21/best-albums-tracks-2012-readers-choice |access-date=25 September 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} The single "Disco Moment", from the album, was placed on the BBC Radio 1 play list. In June 2012, the album made the final shortlist for the annual Welsh Music Prize, but lost to Future of the Left.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19996423|title=Welsh Music Prize: Future of the Left named winners|work=BBC News|date=18 October 2012|access-date=27 December 2012}} 2012 also saw Bright Light Bright Light support Scissor Sisters on four venues of their UK tour.{{cite web|url=http://www.guttermagazine.com/2012/11/05/gutter-talk-bright-light-bright-light/|title=Gutter Talk : Bright Light, Bright Light |work=Gutter Magazine|date=5 November 2012|access-date=27 December 2012|first=Siobhanne|last=Beattie}}
In 2013, the EP In Your Care was released;{{Cite web |last=Stern |first=Bradley |date=23 September 2013 |title=Bright Light Bright Light Returns With New EP: Listen to "An Open Heart" |url=https://muumuse.com/2013/09/bright-light-bright-light-returns-with-new-ep-listen-to-an-open-heart.html/ |access-date=25 September 2024 |website=MuuMuse |language=en-US}} followed by "I Wish We Were Leaving", a second single from Thomas' second album, featuring Elton John.{{Cite news |last=Cragg |first=Michael |date=21 February 2014 |title=Bright Light Bright Light – I Wish We Were Leaving feat Elton John: New music |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/feb/21/elton-john-new-music |access-date=25 September 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} Following the latter's release, Thomas toured with Elton John during summer 2014. Bright Light Bright Light's second album Life is Easy was released in the UK on 7 July 2014.{{Cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Caroline |date=3 July 2014 |title=Bright Light Bright Light: Life Is Easy review – bittersweet lyrics and rave beats |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/03/bright-light-bright-light-life-is-easy-review |access-date=25 September 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} It charted at No. 139, and was preceded by the single "I Believe" on 29 June. Thomas spent most of 2014 and 2015 touring as the opening act for Elton John,{{Cite web |last=Mansfield |first=Brian |title=Bright Light Bright Light to open Elton John U.S. tour |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/07/28/elton-john-opening-act-bright-light-bright-light/13203811/ |access-date=25 September 2024 |website=USA Today |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Barr |first=Gordon |date=26 June 2014 |title=Bright Light Bright Light chats about working with icon Elton John |url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/bright-light-bright-light-chats-7315424 |access-date=25 September 2024 |website=Chronicle Live |language=en}} while he ended 2015 with a short US tour opening for John Grant.{{Cite web |last=Lynn |first=Logan |date=3 November 2015 |title=Grey Tickles, Black Pressure and Bright Light: An Interview With John Grant and Rod Thomas |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/grey-tickles-black-pressu_b_8458698 |access-date=25 September 2024 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}
In 2016, Choreography was released, entering the UK Album Chart at No. 72, the Independent Album Breakers chart at No. 1, and the US Billboard Dance / Electronic Album Chart at No. 12. The album features guest appearances by Elton John, Alan Cumming, all Scissor Sisters members and Mykal Kilgore.{{Cite news |last=Mumford |first=Gwilym |date=14 July 2016 |title=Bright Light Bright Light: Choreography review – a 1980s disco recreated with love |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/14/bright-light-bright-light-choreography-review |access-date=25 September 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} All guests feature on the album's lead single "All in the Name", which was unveiled in a live performance on Graham Norton's BBC TV show with Elton John on stage with him. The song was added to the Radio 2 B-list playlist and scored Thomas his widest-reaching single to date.
Aside from creating his own music, Thomas runs a daytime dance party in New York (which transfers to London when he is touring) called Romy & Michele's Saturday Afternoon Tea Dance, named after Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, one of his favourite films. The party takes place both in Brooklyn and at Club Cumming, a bar in Manhattan's East Village run by Alan Cumming, who stars in the film that inspired the event.
In 2017, Thomas appeared as an extra in one of his favourite TV series, The League of Gentlemen, in the first episode of their three-part TV return, "Return to Royston Vasey", as a job-seeker in Pauline's restart class. This marked his second time working with actor, director and writer Mark Gatiss, after composing the theme tune for Mark's BBC4 series Queers, created as part of the BBC's cycle "Gay Britannia", to mark the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Sexual Offences Act 1967. The show features interviews with gay characters at the margins of the community. It was broadcast by BBC America in collaboration with AMC Networks.
In 2019, he was picked as the opening act for Cher's European tour, playing nine shows across Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden.
= 2020–present: New music =
Thomas provided the vocals for the animated intro to the video game Murder by Numbers, which was released on 5 March 2020.{{cite web | url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/05/03/murder-by-numbers-director-ed-fear-mediatonic-lgbt-representation/ | title=Murder by Numbers creator on how 'nerve wracking' it is to make a 'really gay' game | date=3 May 2021 }} Later that month, he released "This Was My House", featuring Madonna's backing singers Niki Haris and Donna De Lory and produced by Initial Talk, as the first song from his fourth album Fun City. The song was described as "a perfect disco song" by Paper Magazine,{{Cite web|url=https://www.papermag.com/bright-light-bright-light-premiere-2645581807.html|title=Listen to This Disco Song Right Now|date=27 March 2020|website=PAPER|language=en|access-date=27 March 2020}} written about how the LGBTQ+ community's safe spaces have been under attack in recent times, and how, despite the upsurge in anti-LGBTQ+ and xenophobic rhetoric, everybody deserves to feel safe in the place they call home.
Fun City was a number 1 UK Dance Album hit on its release in September 2020 receiving widespread critical acclaim, featuring a slew of LGBTQ+ talent adding their vocals: Brendan Maclean, Jake Shears, Andy Bell of Erasure, Sam Sparro, Caveboy, Niki & Donna, KAYE, The Illustrious Blacks, Big Dipper, Mark Gatiss adding a spoken word piece, and Justin Vivian Bond.
In November 2020, Bright Light Bright Light released a duet with alt-cabaret star Justin Vivian Bond, "Saying Goodbye Is Exhausting". The haunting ballad captures grief in the LGBTQ+ community. It was "released to raise some hope, money and awareness for Trans Awareness Week and World AIDS Day 2020, the official day of release of the EP."Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211206/EF_G3oOgZXA Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20201121112558/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF_G3oOgZXA Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF_G3oOgZXA| title = Bright Light Bright Light & Justin Vivian Bond 'Saying Goodbye Is Exhausting' | via=YouTube| date = 20 November 2020 }}{{cbignore}}
Bright Light Bright Light's fifth studio album Enjoy Youth was released on 17 May 2024.{{Citation |title=Enjoy Youth by Bright Light Bright Light on Apple Music |date=17 May 2024 |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/enjoy-youth/1713967695 |access-date=29 April 2024 |language=en-US}} It was preceded by several singles including: "I Don't Know What I'm Gonna Do", "Sweetest Release", "Boys Etc.", "Down To One", "You Want My ...", "Every Emotion" with Ultra Naté and "Heartslap" with Mykal Kilgore.{{Cite web |title=Bright Light Bright Light announces his fifth studio album, Enjoy Youth |url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/news/bright-light-bright-light-announces-his-fifth-studio-album-enjoy-youth |access-date=29 April 2024 |website=The Line of Best Fit |language=en-US}}
Personal life
Thomas has described himself both as "gay"{{cite news |url=https://queerspacemagazine.com/bright-light-bright-light/ |title=Not the Only Gay in the Village: Bright Light Bright Light |first=Robert |last=Roth |work=QueerSpace |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302193153/https://queerspacemagazine.com/bright-light-bright-light/ |date=5 December 2013 |archive-date=2 March 2022 |access-date=2 March 2022 }} and as "queer".{{cite news |url=https://thequeerreview.com/2020/09/17/exclusive-interview-bright-light-bright-light-new-album-fun-city-for-queer-pop-music/ |title=Bright Light Bright Light takes us on a guided tour of his new album Fun City: 'for queer people pop music has always been a kind of safe haven' |first=James |last=Kleinmann |work=The Queer Review |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302193340/https://thequeerreview.com/2020/09/17/exclusive-interview-bright-light-bright-light-new-album-fun-city-for-queer-pop-music/ |date=17 September 2020 |archive-date=2 March 2022 |access-date=2 March 2022 |quote=my identity as a queer immigrant is very important to me }}
Awards
Thomas won Album Of The Year at the 2016 WINQ Magazine Awards{{Cite web |last=Stroude |first=Will |date=8 December 2016 |title=Chris Mears and Mark Gatiss among those honoured at Winq Men of the Year 2016 |url=https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/film-tv/chris-mears-and-mark-gatiss-among-those-honoured-at-winq-men-of-the-year-2016-291095/ |access-date=6 June 2025 |website=Attitude |language=en-GB}} for his album 'Choreography'.
Thomas was awarded the Bideawee Hero Award for his work fundraising for, and volunteering at Bideawee, a no kill cat and dog rescue organization in New York in 2025.
Discography
{{Main|Bright Light Bright Light discography}}
= Studio albums =
as Rod Thomas
- Until Something Fits (2009)
- Quiet City (2021) - instrumental album
- Until Something Fits (2021) - instrumental album
as Bright Light Bright Light
- Make Me Believe in Hope (2012)
- Life Is Easy (2014)
- Choreography (2016)
- Fun City (2020)
- Enjoy Youth (2024)
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Credit ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| colspan="4" style="background:#bfd7ff;"|Television |
| rowspan="2" | 2016
| Weekend | rowspan="2" |Himself | Self - Guest (Season 3; Episode 25) |
| The Graham Norton Show
| Self - Musical Guest (Season 19; Episode 9) |
| rowspan="2" |2017
|Composer |Theme Song |
| The League of Gentlemen
|Job-seeker |Episode: "Return to Royston Vasey"; Extra |
| 2023
|Bartender |Episode: S2 E11 "The Last Supper Part 2" |
| colspan="4" style="background:#bfd7ff;"|Films |
| 2020
| Death Drop Gorgeous | rowspan="2" | Composer | rowspan="2" | Original Soundtrack |
| 2022
|All Man: The International Male Story |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bright Light Bright Light}}
Category:20th-century Welsh LGBTQ people
Category:21st-century Welsh LGBTQ people
Category:21st-century Welsh male singers
Category:British synth-pop singers
Category:Gay singer-songwriters
Category:Queer singer-songwriters
Category:Welsh LGBTQ singer-songwriters