Francis and the Lights

Francis and the Lights – American pop project

Francis and the Lights is a music project created by Francis Farewell Starlite in 2017. The musician is the only member of the project. He works with R&B, electronics, synth-pop, and other genres. Soon after the project’s launch, Francis released his debut EP, Striking. It turned out to be successful and brought the singer popularity.

In 2008, Francis and the Lights released a new EP. He called it Modern Promise. Soon after that, the artist worked as a producer for Drake’s single “Karaoke”. The song was later featured in the Canadian rapper’s LP, Thank Me Later, which came out in 2010. The same year, Francis embarked on a tour with Drake and other popular artists, among whom were MGMT, Ke$ha, Mark Ronson, and La Roux.

In July 2010, Francis and the Lights recorded the third EP, It'll Be Better. It came out with the assistance of a new label, Cantora. To record the album, the singer invited a future film director Jake Schreier. Later, Jake worked with Francis on several other projects, filming music videos for his songs. After some time, Schreier turned to the movie industry and stopped working with the artist.

In 2013, Francis presented a new EP, which he called Like a Dream. The album turned out commercially successful. The number of fans was growing steadily. Two years later, when Drake was recording a new song “Madonna” for the mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, he used several words from Francis’ single "Get in the Car". At that time, many fans tried to book Francis and the Lights for private events.

In 2016, Francis joined the Chance the Rapper to record a single “Summer Friends” for the rapper’s third mixtape, Coloring Book. After some time, musicians embarked on a world tour to support the mixtape. It continued for two months. Francis and the Lights were the opening act.

The same year, the artist presented a new single “Thank You”, which he performed while playing the piano. The song was recorded using a smartphone during a gathering at Justin Vernon’s house.

In the summer of 2016, Francis presented a new music video for his single “Friends”. It was recorded with Kanye West and Bon Iver. In September, the singer released his debut LP, Farewell, Starlite!. The album was recorded with the support of KTTF Music. A month before the release, the artist announced the LP at a popular music festival, Eaux Claires. The album featured 10 songs, among which were such hits as "See Her Out (That's Just Life)", "Comeback", I Want You to Shake", "My Citys Gone" with Kanye West, "Friends" with Bon Iver, and "It's Alright to Cry"

The same year, Francis and Chance the Rapper recorded a cover for the single “Dear Theodosia” from an American musical, Hamilton. Next year, the artists worked once again to create a remix for "May I Have This Dance".

At the end of 2017, Francis released his next LP, Just for Us. It featured 10 tracks, the majority of which earned positive reviews from the critics.

In 2018, Francis and the Lights worked as a producer for Kanye West’s "I Thought About Killing You", "All Mine", and "Ghost Town". All of them were featured in the rapper’s album Ye (2018).

Later that year, West and Kid Cudi formed a rap duo called Kids See Ghosts. For the new project, Francis and the Lights together with Pusha T produced a song called “Feel The Love”.

In August 2019, Francis released a lead single "Take Me to the Light" for the upcoming album together with Kanye West and Bon Iver. The album with the same name came out shortly after.