If Looks Could Thrill

The song is luxurious. To be so long, at over seven minutes, is unusual. To paraphrase its own lyrics: “You’re different, I like it.”

Shura’s songs are powerful in the subtlest way possible. With a low, easy beat, they take a cue from the 80s – a musical nostalgia from a time without concern – but she mixes them with lyrics that show her very modern sense of the fragility of life.

‘White Light’ is a powerhouse of a track, an unstoppable adventure into a cosmic world of the fantastic musings inspired by the ecstasy of that never-ending night in which being in love is the cocoon of magic that sustains the overwhelming desire to “fly a million miles away and be all alone / because I don’t mind if we never go, never go home.”

When the song’s lyrics finally start, a minute in, it’s clear that we’re listening to someone who is aware of the delicacies of what it means to be human, in an age when it’s never been harder to be so: “You’re different, I like it / You’re from another planet, / And I’d like you to take me there. / You can fly your alien spaceship.”

It’s an ode to being the most spectacular individual you can be, in a time when we are finally free to be the best versions of ourselves. It’s an invitation to join the fantasy she conjures, but only if you have the courage to be engulfed in the white light that burns inside you.

You’re different, don’t hide it.
That’s what made me notice you.
There you were sitting by yourself.
There you were.

You are a white light,
Stepping out of the dark.
You are a white light,
But you cover it up.

Click to read an earlier IfLooksCouldThrill post about Shura’s single ‘Touch’