Album Review: La Sera - Sees The Light

From the very first line (“I love my life without you”), the title of La Sera's second album title becomes immediately clear. This is the opening line to the ultimate kiss-off album where our protagonist, Katy Goodman of noise poppers The Vivian Girls, is saying goodbye to a relationship with a knowing shrug instead of an ugly cry.

Sees The Light signals a departure from La Sera's languid, reverb-laden dream pop and skips towards upbeat garage/pop-punk that embodies the tone of the album beautifully. The group covers themes like being better off post-relationship (How Far We've Come) and reminding an ex-lover of what she is going to offer to someone else (Real Boy). Even its most insecure moments don't wallow too deep (I'm Alone, Don't Stay) and the album seems to be much more forward-looking than introspective.

In addition to the change in aesthetic, Sees The Light really benefits from Goodman's performance as a lyricist and as a vocalist capable of emoting really effectively. The lyrics are uncomplicated. She doesn't possess a powerful voice or a delicate soprano. Despite this though, Goodman sounds effortless and pleasantly unflappable. It just makes her sound so convincing at relaying her c'est la vie attitude towards a failed relationship.

With Sees The Light, La Sera joins Best Coast and Frankie Rose in emphatically placing reverb-drenched post-pop on hiatus. Perhaps then it is no coincidence that by shedding something so overwrought, like a relationship or a crowded sound motif like reverb, La Sera have found the freedom and space to let their talent breathe unencumbered. Sees The Light indeed seizes the lightness of just being.