News
LYs release live video of ‘Blinded By Light’
10 March 2013
We’ve just published the first live video from our recent headline show at Westminster Reference Library, featuring brand-new LYs track ‘Blinded By Light‘.
We premiered a number of new songs at Westminster on Saturday 9 February, among them ‘Embrace Of Many‘, ‘Wait Forever‘ and ‘One Way Or The Other‘. Along with ‘Blinded By Light’ and a clutch of other tunes we’re working on in rehearsal, these songs will help to make up the next Lightyears album.
The album will be released in conjunction with my Lightyears novel, Mockstars. The novel is loosely based on my Lightyears tour diaries, and tells the story of our first ever international tour to Meribel, in the French Alps. Check out a video extract here… and watch this space for updates!
Click here to view our photo gallery from Westminster Library.
Click here to read my write-up of the gig.
Watch the video below:
LYs gig review published in London E-zine
25 February 2013
London-based online music mag and promotion company It’s All Happening have posted a gig review covering our recent performance at Westminster Library in central London.
IAH review gigs from all across the capital, as well as running their own events and festivals and generally working their socks off to promote and foster London’s thriving indie music scene.
Head on over to their website to give the review a read.
Media from the gig
If you missed our show at Westminster – or if you enjoyed it so ravenously that you simply must relive it – then mosey on over to the gallery page to check out the official photos, or read my gig report on the Lightyears blog page.
Lightyears soundtrack new Body Gossip film
18 February 2013
The Lightyears have provided the soundtrack for a new short film by Cosmo award-winning body image campaign Body Gossip.
The film, entitled ‘Ageing Gracefully‘, features a cast of celebrities that includes Natalie Cassidy, Mikyla Dodd and Nikki Grahame and is the latest in a series of films by BG seeking to promote healthier body image in society.
We’re proud to have been associated with Body Gossip from the very beginning of their campaign. Take a sneaky peek at the new video below:
Sell-out at Westminster Library
12 February 2013
Thanks to everyone who came down to Westminster Library on Saturday night for our Book & Album Preview – we played one of our favourite ever gigs, to a capacity crowd, in a truly unusual and exciting venue.
I’ve written a piece on the event in my Lightyears blog, and we also covered the show with a photographer and cameraman. We’ll be releasing new media as and when it’s available, so watch this space.
It was pretty thrilling for us to unleash extracts from the book and songs from the new album for the first time, and we’d be interested to know what people thought. Connect with us via our Twitter and Facebook accounts or, if you’re from the old school, just post us your crayon / dried pasta interpretations of the gig, and we’ll be happy.
Chibundu Onuzo to join LYs at library
31 January 2013
Before we hit the stage at Westminster Reference Library on Saturday 9 February, you’ll be treated to a short reading and musical performance by the awesome Chibundu Onuzo, a 21 year-old Nigerian author and performer.
In 2012 Chibundu became Faber & Faber’s youngest ever female signing, and since then her book ‘The Spider King’s Daughter’ has gone on to widespread critical acclaim, leading to appearances on CNN and the BBC (in fact, if you click here and scroll through to 27:20, you can watch her on last Friday’s episode of The One Show).
We’re delighted to be sharing a bill with Chibundu and look forward to commemorating National Libraries Day with her and, of course, your good selves. Doors are at 7.30, Chibundu at 8 and The Lightyears at 8.30. If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, don’t delay! Follow this link to WeGotTickets.
Chris LY to appear at Brixton Book Jam
29 January 2013
As a warm-up for our big gig at Westminster Library on National Libraries Day, I will be appearing on the bill at the next Brixton Book Jam on Monday 4 February, reading from my Lightyears novel Mockstars.
Brixton Book Jam – AKA ‘the Glastonbury of literature’ – is an eclectic gathering of tremendous and quirky people passionate about books and the written word, this month taking place at the Hootananny pub on Effra Road. I will be joining an esteemed list of writers in a bid to slay you, literally kill you dead, with our potent droplets of verbal anthrax.
Doors are at 7pm; readings begin at 8. ENTRY IS FREE, hoorah! Full details here.
There will be books. But I can’t guarantee jam.
ps. If you can’t make this event, there are still tickets left (but not that many!) for our headline gig at Westminster Reference Library on Saturday 9 February – your chance to hear preview extracts from my Lightyears novel, and the album that accompanies it, for the first time ever in a live setting. Buy your tickets here… it’s going to be off-the-hook (or, at least, as off-the-hook as you can go in a public library… you’re probably still hanging onto the hook but, like, just with your little finger or something. Everyone with me? Good.)
New free download at Project Lightyears
22 January 2013
Lord be praised*, it’s a miracle – we’ve passed 100,000 views at www.ProjectLightyears.com… which means you lot get a juicy free download all to yourselves.
Thanks to everyone for spreading the word so ferociously since we launched – in return we’d like you, your family and everyone you’ve ever met to have a free copy of our previously unreleased Manhattan version of “Emily”, recorded in New York in a tiny studio while Chinatown buzzed around us.
Visit Project Lightyears and follow the instructions therein to nab your free track.
*The Vatican are yet to recognise this as an official miracle, which is a bit mean.
Lightyears head for the recording studio
9 January 2013
We’re hitting the ground running in 2013, and this weekend we’ll be holing ourselves up in a recording studio in North London to lay down preview versions of the some of the songs we’ve been working on for the new album.
To track our progress, keep a close eye on The Lightyears’ Twitter feed for updates.
For a run-down of the songs we’ve got in the bank so far, click here.
…And if you’d like to hear these songs live, make sure you book your ticket for our headline show at Westminster Reference Library on Saturday 9 February.
Finally, for the nostalgic amongst you, follow this link for a list of our favourite moments of 2012.
All the best for 2013, pop fans.
Help us reach 100,000 views at Project Lightyears
11 December 2012
We’re just 12,000 away from 100,000 views at Project Lightyears, which I think we can all agree is rather exciting.
So here’s the deal.
You folks help us reach the big 100K mark before the year ends, and in return we’ll give you – ALL of you – a free copy of a previously unreleased version of Emily we recorded in New York’s Chinatown whilst on tour in the States.
How can you do this, I hear you cry?
1) Visit www.ProjectLightyears.com and have a good poke around. On top of the video content there’s a whole host of already unlocked free downloads for you to plunder.
2) Share it, tweet it, shout it from the rooftops (or Facebook if you’re not the type to hang about on rooftops). Tell your friends, tell your families, and make sure you let them know there’s a ton of free stuff in it for them.
With a bit of luck we ought to be able to hit 100,000 on the counter before the stroke of midnight on 31 December… and if that happens, I suggest we organise a global party to mark the occasion, some kind of elaborate collective celebration where we all get nicely sozzled on champagne and sing (for some reason) Auld Lang Syne. I think everyone will join in. I really think they will.
ps. The Chinatown version of Emily was recorded amidst a whirlwind of gigs and parties in New York back in 2008 – click here to read the story behind the record…
Download the new Lightyears app
23 November 2012
Today we are launching our very own app, which means you can now enjoy Lightyears music, video, photos and news direct from your mobile device.
That’s right – after years of expensive research and experimentation, scientists have found a way to shrink down piano-led pop bands to such a diminutive size, they’ll fit in your pocket. Best of all, it’s completely free.
To add the app to your smartphone or iPad, follow this link from your mobile device (if you’re on a computer you’ll be prompted to scan the QR code. Do contact us if any of this baffles you).
There’s even a Fan Wall where you can let us know what you think of the app, good or bad. Although we prefer bad. Nasty if at all possible.
