Bright Light Bright Light’s Rod Thomas Debuts “In Your Care” At New York’s Joe’s Pub

Robbie Daw | April 6, 2013 8:28 am

Friday (April 5) was a landmark night for Bright Light Bright Light (aka Rod Thomas), as it brought about the Welsh dynamo’s first time hitting the stage in New York with a full band — complete with a drummer, keyboardist and trio of hip-shaking, sassy backing vocalists (Xavier Smith, Chrissi Poland and Bridget Barkan). BLx2 energetically tore through a set that was comprised mainly of songs from one of Idolator’s Best Albums Of 2012 picks, Make Me Believe In Hope, though he also turned out the spruced-up, fully-produced version of “In Your Care.”

Last month Rod offered up a somber piano demo of the song, which, he explained at last night’s show, comes from a place of him missing his family in the UK now that he’s taken up somewhat of a residency on these shores. The up-tempo production you hear in the clip above transforms the number into something altogether different than what we originally heard. Nevertheless, the emotional punch remains intact.

One surprise guest at the Bright Light show was Thomas’ pal and sometimes-collaborator Del Marquis, who stepped on stage for a duet of “Cry At Films.” Marquis, under the monicker Slow Knights, released his first post-Scissor Sisters album, the synthy, ’80s R&B-dappled Cosmos, in late March.

Rod and all of the above-mentioned backing vocalists also contributed to Del’s record, further illustrating the fact that what we saw on display last night was not only a giddy musical spectacle staged at a legendary New York venue, but the work of a true pop artist collective.