Glamgoth duo Dead Lights set to release second album, Glitterspit

One of my favorite acts right now, the glamgoth duo Dead Lights is preparing to release their sophomore album, Glitterspit. It arrives October 13, 2023, via darkTunes Music Group, home to many of my favorite artists, including Czarina and Blackbook.

Dead Lights’ music consists of pulse-pounding beats, menacing synth lines, and seedy lyrics about glittering tombs and bloody cigarettes—packaged with devilish and delightful charm. Their sound is matched by an incredible visual aesthetic that frequently finds the pair adorned in sparkling outfits and slathered in makeup. They’ve single-handedly revived electro-industrial sleaze once championed by bands like My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and Lords of Acid.

Glitterspit promises to be one of the best albums of the year. In the build-up to the album’s release, Dead Lights has been creating incredible buzz with a string of outstanding singles and a series of live shows across Europe.

Here’s how the press notes on Bandcamp describe the album:

The 11 songs on Glitterspit are filled with monumental synth bass lines and gritty sounds, elaborate vocal arrangements and brutal, industrial dance beats for the dance floor, your headphones as well as your living room. Lyrically, DEAD LIGHTS are delving into the darker side of the human condition, skewering life in the social media age with a savage wit and poetic flair. Prepare for songs of loss, lust, drugs and death.

We’ve heard 4 singles from Glitterspit so far

Earlier this year, Dead Lights began teasing the new album with its first single, the menacing powerhouse “Receiver.” They soon followed it with a second track that felt like a companion, an energetic banger called “I Am Electric.” Both songs dabble in sexual undertones.

Two additional singles followed: “Into the Night” and “Let the Ugly Out.” With lyrics like “Take me to the ethereal” and “Be a beauty killer,” Dead Lights deliver anthems for embracing your dark side.

Dead Lights will release one more track to coincide with the full album’s arrival. “Elevator Muzak In Heaven” gets an enticing video treatment on October 13.

About Dead Lights

If you’re new to Dead Lights, they are a duo comprised of musicians Saul Pettett and Richard van Kruysdijk. The duo formed in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and worked together remotely—Saul is from England’s the Isle of Wight, and Richard is from the Netherlands.

In the summer of 2021, they released their debut album, the self-titled Dead Lights, which includes the singles “Plastic Girl” and “The Raven.” They quickly followed that with last year’s Doom Doom Trash EP. I included its title track near the top of my list of the best songs of 2022.

Dead Lights made their live debut in early 2022, performing together for the first time in front of an audience at Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig, Germany.