Lights On

Album: On a Mission (2010)
Charted: 4
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Songfacts®:

  • This is the second single by British R&B and dubstep singer-songwriter Katy Brien, better known as Katy B. Like her debut release, "Katy On A Mission" this song is about a night out clubbing.
  • The song features R&B and garage singer-songwriter Ms. Dynamite, who is best known for her 2002 Mercury Prize winning album, A Little Deeper. Brien performed at the London Jazz Festival in 2009 with Ms. Dynamite and also collaborated with the garage singer on her third album.
  • Geeneus, who is one of the stalwarts of the London underground radio station Rinse FM, helmed the song. He also produced Brien's cover of Inner City's "Good Life."
  • Brien explained to the Daily Mirror that the inspiration for this song came to her when she was clubbing. She said: "I was in a club in Brixton on my friend's birthday drinking cocktails having a wicked time and the lights went on. I was like, 'Oh my God, why hasn't anyone written a song about this?' How many times have you been in a club wanting to keep on dancing and the lights come on and you're left standing with your mascara all running?"
  • This marked the highest ever chart placing for Ms Dynamite. Her previous best was the #5 peak of her own single "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee" in September 2002.
  • Brien told The Daily Star that she joined forces with Ms. Dynamite after she struggled to complete the track by herself due to a bout of writer's block. Said the London singer: "I was a fan of Ms. Dynamite, so I was so happy when she came on it. She came in the studio to work with my producers DJ Zinc and Geeneus. I was struggling a bit so they said let's get Dynamite in and I was very grateful she said yes."
  • This was Katy B's second successive single to reach the top 5 of the UK singles chart. She said: "I never expected to do so well, at all - 'On a Mission' and 'Lights On' were written as club tracks, and I never thought they'd do anything outside that world."

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