Bright Light Bright Light

Bright Light Bright Light is an artist who is showing the world that you don't need huge budgets and massive hype driven campaigns to touch your listener and be rewarded with a truly loyal and faithful audience. Having adopted the moniker over half a decade ago, Neath's Rod Thomas has three compellingly different but equally impressive studio albums under his belt, a series of high profile collaborations (from Sir Elton through to Alan Cumming), and last year released the first concept EP, Cinematography. He kicks off this year's recordings with a heavily anticipated sequel to last years EP, Cinematography II.

The collection is exactly what it says it is on the out packaging, a collection of cinematic themes reworked by the man with his arms spread open wide and ready to fall into your heart at the centre of the image. Featuring Madonna's Causing A Commotion and Starship's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, this is a brave and bold move by Bright Light Bright Light to show that he is not only innovative in his own musical output, but he is able to apply his own signature sound to the releases that inspired his own sound.

Inevitably the whole collection is delivered with flair, but there are two key moments that need to be individually heralded as key to the collection's success. Back in 1994 Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories soundtracked Reality Bites with the unforgettable Stay (I Missed You). A true classic, the song has been covered by everyone from Jamie Benson to New Found Glory and Chris Cayzer, but none have managed to really bring anything new to the table. The same came not be said for Rod Thomas, who transforms it into a hurting and haunting R'n'B tinged affair that manages not to lose the emotion of the acoustic original.

Taking on Bjork's New World, which was in the truly awesome Dancer In The Dark, it would be easy for an artist to fall short of Iceland's greatest export. Once again keeping the emotional drive of the song in tact, he transforms it into a sweeping moment of pop pleasure.

With the Cinematography series Bright Light Bright Light is exceeding all the high expectations his audience have of him. This is a covers collection that is every bit as exciting and refreshing to hear as his own original material.