"Up We Go" is a song recorded by Canadian

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

artist

Lights Light is an electromagnetic radiation, part of which stimulates the sense of vision. Light or Lights may also refer to: Illumination * Lighting * Light bulb * Traffic light Arts and entertainment Music * Lights (musician) (born 1987), Canadian s ...

for her third studio album, ''

Little Machines ''Little Machines'' is the third studio album by Canadian electropop singer-songwriter Lights, released on September 19, 2014, through Warner Bros. Records. It was preceded in July 2014 by the release of its lead single " Up We Go", which debuted ...

'' (2014). Written by Lights in collaboration with songwriter-producer

Tawgs Salter Thomas "Tawgs" Salter is a Canadian musician, songwriter, producer and recording engineer. His extensive body of musical work includes a vast array of artists ranging from Josh Groban, Lights and Lenka to Chantal Kreviazuk, Fefe Dobson, Dear R ...

, the song was released July 22, 2014 via LIGHTS Music as the lead single from the album. In the United States, it was released to

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

radio through

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

on September 9, 2014. The song has enjoyed commercial success - it reached number 31 on the ''Billboard''

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

and the top ten on multiple airplay formats, and was certified Gold by

Music Canada Music Canada is a non-profit Industry trade group, trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to s ...

in January 2015 - and was also met with positive reviews from contemporary music critics, being described as "impossibly catchy."

Composition

"Up We Go" is a

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

song that combines Lights' signature electro-influenced

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

production style with "lush" guitars. Jeff Benjamin of ''fuse'' described the style as a compromise between the lighter

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s of her debut and the grittier electropop territory explored on ''

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

''. Lyrically, the song is an

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

about persevering through difficult times, with the chorus assuring the listener that "''from down this low / It's only up we go''".

Critical reception

The song received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. In his "Song of the Day" spotlight featuring "Up We Go", Jeff Benjamin of ''fuse'' praised Lights for " ixingclever lyrics... with inspiring lyrics about persevering and looking forward to the brighter day" and was also complimentary of the shift in her sound. Also praising the lighter musical approach, Greg Moskovitch of ''

Music Feeds ''Music Feeds'' is a free bi-weekly digital music and lifestyle magazine ( street press) established in 2008 and based in Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Austr ...

'' wrote that " e punchy, synth-pop production provides a soaring and glittering soundbed for Poxleitner’s motivational lyrics, which lead into an anthemic, impossibly catchy chorus." British music blog ''

Popjustice Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 by UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for ''NME'', ''The Guardian'', ''Attitude'' and many others. It is composed of the work of editor Robinson, features editor Michael C ...

'' rated the song 8/10 and felt the song had the potential to elevate Lights's career to the next level: "Canadian electronic pop expert Lights hasn't yet enjoyed the UK success she deserves... which is a shame, because if this excellent first track from her new album 'Little Machines' is anything to go by she's about to scale new heights."

Chart performance

"Up We Go" debuted at number 84 on the ''Billboard''

for the chart dated August 9, 2014. On the chart dated November 8, 2014, "Up We Go" reached a new peak of number 31, becoming her second highest-charting single yet, behind "

Drive My Soul "Drive My Soul" is the debut single by Canadian singer-songwriter Lights from her debut self-titled EP. It was released as the EP's lead single on March 11, 2008, in Canada and July 24, 2008, in the United States. The song reached number 18 on th ...

", which peaked at number 18. It debuted at number 42 on

Canada CHR/Top 40 The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

on the chart issued September 13, 2014, as well as number 47 on

Canada Hot AC The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

and number 43 on

Canada AC The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

the following week. The song has since peaked in the top 10 on the former two, and the top 5 on the latter.

Music video

The official music video for "Up We Go" was directed by Alon Isocianu and premiered on Lights's

VEVO Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

channel on September 3, 2014. The one shot video features the singer in an elevator, with various background events and characters appearing as the doors open to new locations.

Other appearances

The single also features in the soundtrack and in-game radio songs of EA's

The Sims 4 ''The Sims 4'' is a social simulation game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released on September 2, 2014 for Windows, and is the fourth main installment in ''The Sims'' series, following ''The Sims 3'' (2009 ...

, on the first expansion pack of the game, Get to Work, released in 2015. The song has been remixed to be sung in the Sims language,

Simlish Simlish is a constructed language devised by game designer Will Wright for the '' Sims'' game series developed by Electronic Arts. During the development of '' SimCopter'' (1996), Wright sought to avoid real-world languages, believing that pla ...

Track listings

Digital download # "Up We Go" - 2:51 Digital download — Borgeous Remix # "Up We Go" - 4:41 Digital download — Borgeous Remix (UK) # "Up We Go" - 4:41 # "Up We Go" - 4:41

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from ''Little Machines'' liner notes. *

— vocals, synths, guitar, bass, drum programming, writing * Drew Pearson — additional synths, guitar, bass, drum programming, production, engineering *

Thomas "Tawgs" Salter Thomas "Tawgs" Salter is a Canadian musician, songwriter, producer and recording engineer. His extensive body of musical work includes a vast array of artists ranging from Josh Groban, Lights and Lenka to Chantal Kreviazuk, Fefe Dobson, Dear Rou ...

— additional synths, guitar, bass, production, writing *

Jason "Human Kebab" Parsons Jason Parsons is a Canadian DJ and producer who works under the name Human Kebab. He is best known as one half of the rock/electronic duo USS, alongside Ash Buchholz. In 2023, he launched a new project, title DIVIIDEDBY, together with Three Days ...

— additional programming * Maurie Kaufmann — drums *Adam Weaver — synths *

Spike Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran ...

— mixing *João Carvalho — mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Lights 2014 songs 2014 singles Lights (musician) songs Songs written by Tawgs Salter Warner Records singles Songs written by Lights (musician)