LATVIA 2023

The Latvian Final "Supernova" on February 11th at the LTV TV Studios in Riga, hosted by Ketija Šenberga and Lauris Reiniks. Before the final there was a semi-final where the long list of 14 was reduced to a final of 10. The winner was chosen by a 50-50 split of televoting and jury. The winning act was Sudden Lights with the song "Aijā" (Hush)

Sudden Lights was founded in 2012 by Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis and Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis and two years later Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis and Kārlis Vārtiņš joined the group. In 2015 the group won the "Pirmā Plate" competition for young musicians in Riga. From here the group had the opportunity to record their original song "Tik Savādi" and this became their first release. In 2017, the band released their debut album "Suburbs" which included songs in both Latvian and English. In 2018 they entered Supernova for the first time. The band eventually gained a wildcard for the final and came second to Laura Rizzotto.

The band are dressed smartly but in muted dark colours and there is barely any backdrop. The stage is dotted with large lights which flicker and increase in intensity depending on the part of the song. We start with an electronic beat sample which the singer starts over. The verses have an unusual 5/4 time signature which takes some time to get into. After this there is a brief guitar solo and refrain into the chorus. This part however has a more typical Viennese waltz signature and has a more expansive, less jerky sound. A second verse and chorus follow; the song then quietens and builds up to the final part of the song. This introduced another new style to the song as this is in Latvian and contains the title of the song. Here, the lead singer is also playing guitar and the song turns into a gentle lullaby.

This song feels like multiple songs rolled into one - some people will enjoy its fragmented whole, others will find a section they like and others will find this song disjointed and complicated. The song effectively straddles the line between radio friendly rock and avant garde song writing but the listener needs to hear the whole thing before making judgements. The start of the track is a little unexpected and on first listen it sounds very odd to the ear. I fear this could put a lot of people off very quickly.

To counteract any negativity people may have on the song, the band could work something more visual into the performance. The essence of what the song or title means is unclear. Reframing the song into a kind of frenetic peace ballad would really connect all those different juxtapositions. Also I feel like they need to put the chorus into their recap clip as this is probably the most accessible and memorable part of the song. Remembering that it is 100% televote in the semi-finals, this could find itself in a tricky position. This doesn't really have a call to arms and people could may well forget it's there, or dismiss it too quickly, ending up being overlooked for a final spot, which would be a shame.

ARTIST - Sudden Lights

SONG - Aijā 

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS -  Kārlis Vārtiņš, Gatis Zakis, Mārtiņš Zemītis, Andrejs Zitmanis, Kārlis Zitmanis