If you grew up on Fall Out Boy, The All-American Rejects, and 5 Seconds of Summer, MICO’s debut album When the Lights Turn On is going to feel familiar in all the best ways.
The 23-year-old Filipino-Canadian artist, who built his following through Discord servers, TikTok, and self-released EPs, delivers a debut that sounds like it was pulled directly from the mid-2000s, given some modern production, without losing any of the original charm. Released last Friday via Columbia Records, it’s a debut album that somehow already feels like an artist who has already fully figured out their musical identity.
The opening track sets the tone right off the bat. It’s catchy, danceable, and unabashedly pop punk in a way that feels like a deliberate statement of the album’s musical direction. “Like You Mean It,” one of the album’s lead singles, is probably the most 2000s-sounding track on the record, built around one of the album’s most infectious earworms. Catchy hooks are a mainstay on this album, just about every track is built to get stuck in your head and live there rent free.
“DREAMBOY,” the album’s other big single, pulls in a different direction, leaning more heavily into MICO’s modern hyperpop influences. It’s pure pop chaos wrapped around a story about online perception intersecting with real-life messiness. “OH!” continues that energy before the album begins its gradual shift in the back half.
The last four tracks are where When the Lights Turn On reveals its most interesting side. Stripped back, more acoustic, and considerably more vulnerable than everything that came before, the closing stretch offers a different MICO. This is where the album explores its themes of identity, homesickness, and emotional displacement that define the emotional core of the album’s journey. The contrast with the big hooky pop of the album’s first half is striking, and it works well, giving the album a sense of emotional journey and overarching story, rather than a collection of very catchy tunes.
MICO has spoken openly about the personal weight behind this record. “I was going through a breakup while only spending about three months at home all year. Every time I went back, things would be exactly the same, but feel so different. I suddenly had this worldview that didn’t align with anyone else’s. That’s why every song on this album is so personal. I was processing it all.”
When the Lights Turn On is out now on all platforms. Go listen here.
Nathan Smith is a Providence-based music photographer and journalist focusing on capturing the special moments and unfiltered magic of live performances. Whether he’s shooting established artists at sold-out TD Garden shows or documenting the rise of emerging local bands, his goal is the same: to pull viewers directly into the heart of the moment.
His writing spotlights rising artists and local scenes, with a focus on telling the stories that often get overlooked. A lifelong music fan and musician himself, Nathan approaches interviews and portraits as conversations rather than transactions, building trust with artists so their genuine personalities can shine through. Whether he’s backstage, in the photo pit, or at home in front of the keyboard, he brings the same curiosity and care to every assignment.
Outside of his press work with Juice Box Press, Nathan works regularly as a photographer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous bands in the Boston and Providence area. Nathan also plays violin with a local orchestra, follows Celtics basketball almost religiously, and is an avid fantasy reader.