KC Lights

Scottish DJ/producer KC Lights makes house music saturated with colour. Born Kerr Slaven in 1991, the Glasgow producer got his start in the early 2010s on the Cheap Thrills label, flipping funk samples and slap bass into silky, Daft Punk-inspired filter house. But the robot duo’s influence quickly loosened its grip: By Lights’ 2015 breakthrough hits “No No No” and “Lose It All”, echoes of the French Touch had given way to the rubbery basslines and kinetic vocal chops of future garage. By 2020, his fondness for anthemic vocal hooks was leading him to jubilant dance-pop crossovers. At times, that might manifest in peak-time floor-fillers—his remix of Lost Kings’ “Oops (I’m Sorry)” gushes like a bottle that’s just popped its cork in a Vegas VIP lounge—but Lights is not afraid to get a little sentimental, either. Just witness the wistful melodies of “Girl” and “Cold Light”, which are as gentle as his beats are bold.