My first listen to Lanterns on the Lake was back in late 2011 (or that’s when I first scrobbled them, anyway) but I’ve been listening to them a lot more recently. In January of this year I saw them live in a church in Darmstadt for a memorable evening. So far they’ve released two albums: Gracious Tide, Take Me Home in 2011, and Until the Colours Run in late 2013.
A great album to listen to on a wet night, or if you’re feeling a bit homesick. If you’re listening through headphones there’s something unsettling, invasive almost, about the opening clicks of “Lungs Quicken”, but the rest of the album is warm and comforting, like coming home to a hot fire after being caught in the winter rain. In fact there’s quite a lot of aquatic themes and references threaded throughout, but it’s not an album borne of the beach, but of the quay or the docks, perhaps.
Musically accomplished and full of striking moments of harmony, it’s an album I’m really glad I discovered.
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A much louder and more guitar-oriented album than the first, run through with interplay between vocals and electric guitar: the guitar line in “The Buffalo Days” is one of my favourite bits of music of the last few years.
Less obviously melancholic than the first album, with richer seams of colour and some really good drum and guitar work, it’s simply a very good listen.
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My name is James Newton, and this is my website - a collection of my writings about
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