Versions Of Us

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Much of this evening’s power is driven by Lanterns on the Lake playing with two drummers. Philip Selway is joined here by Tom Hardy, though his tenure with the band may be short-lived if he continues to suggest that singer and songwriter Hazel Wilde’s appearance resembles that of an evil headmistress “in that dress.” For her part, Wilde is at her most relaxed, most playful, and has surely never sounded in better voice. Opener and lead single ‘The Likes of Us’ documents the state of things (“Oblivion howls for these gutted streets / Boarded shops cower in defeat”) but sublimates observations into a mantra of resolve (“I won’t let this spark die in me”). It heralds Versions of Usas the band’s most cohesive and concise record yet, with its pervading sense of empowerment encapsulated in Wilde’s startling vocal performances. Her voice soars with previously unheard force on an album austere in its beauty, with its shifting sands of searing guitar, fluttering vintage synths and swarming melodic lines, topped with glistening strings from Angela Chan. The nine songs ofVersions Of Usare existential meditations examining life’s possibilities; facing the hand we’ve been dealt and the question of whether we can change our individual and collective destinies.Singer and songwriter Hazel Wilde has no doubt that motherhood fundamentally shifted her perspective.“Writing songs requires a certain level of self-indulgence, and songwriters can be prone to dwelling on themselves,” she says.“Motherhood made me aware of having a different stake in the world. I’ve got to believe that there’s a better way and an alternative future to the one we’ve been hurtling towards. I’ve also got to believe that I could be better as a person, too.”

Lanterns on the Lake – Live with Royal Northern Sinfonia". Discogs.com. 24 November 2017 . Retrieved 12 April 2020. I remember feeling a huge emotional release when recording ‘String Theory,’” she recalls. “There is something about everyone’s performance on that one that I just love. ‘Thumb Of War’ is also a highlight – recording that one, especially towards the end of the song was another huge release for me.” Lanterns on the Lake have announced that their new album, Versions of Us , will be out June 2nd via Bella Union. Featuring Radiohead’s Philip Selway on drums and percussion, it’s the band’s fifth studio album, and their first since the departure of their former drummer, Ol Ketteringham. Alongside the announcement, the group unveiled the album’s lead single, “The Likes of Us.” It was during this break that Wilde began writing many of the songs that would go on to make up Spook the Herd. The band developed the songs over the course of a year before recording at Distant City studios in Yorkshire. This was the first time the group had gone into a studio to record. Wilde has commented that "We are a pretty insular band in how we work, and trusting other people enough to allow them to get involved is not always easy for us."The album was produced by the band and mixed by the band's guitarist Paul Gregory. [24]

The nine songs of Versions Of Us are existential meditations examining life’s possibilities; facing the hand we’ve been dealt and the question of whether we can change our individual and collective destinies. Singer and songwriter Hazel Wilde has no doubt that motherhood fundamentally shifted her perspective. “Writing songs requires a certain level of self-indulgence, and songwriters can be prone to dwelling on themselves,” she says. “Motherhood made me aware of having a different stake in the world. I’ve got to believe that there’s a better way and an alternative future to the one we’ve been hurtling towards. I’ve also got to believe that I could be better as a person, too.”

For the band – comprised of Hazel Wilde, Paul Gregory, Bob Allan, and Angela Chan – those years have been a time of tremendous self-reflection, personal growth, and change. For starters, their longtime drummer and pianist Oliver Ketteringham announced his departure in 2022, leaving the group he helped found fifteen years earlier. Radiohead’s Philip Selway ended up replacing him on drums and percussion, which is a whole story in its own right. Like its predecessor, the Mercury nominated Spook The Herd, Versions Of Us is a record that almost didn’t get made. An album full of demos was scrapped, the band’s long-term drummer Oli Ketteringham departed mid-process (to be replaced by Radiohead’s Philip Selway) and the album’s lyrical content point to much personal upheaval in the lives of the album’s key protagonists. Where Spook The Herd became a triumphant against the odds, Versions Of Us might just be Lanterns On The Lake’s masterpiece. Whatever serves the song goes on the song,” states Gregory. “Personally, with Spook T he Herd, I think we got it right in that all the bits that go on the song are to serve the vocal melodies and the lyrical ideas behind it. It’s about choosing the instrument carefully and not piling stuff on for the sake of piling stuff on.” It sounds everything but an album that was recorded while the band continued day jobs and produced in the guitarist Paul Gregory’s bedroom. The addition of Radiohead’s Philip Selway on drums gives it gravitas and a new approach. It is also testament to their label Bella Union. Not many bands get five albums these days but their belief in the band is completely unwavering. It’s fair to say that with all these changes, Lanterns changed the destiny of their fifth record. It’s an irony that’s not lost on Wilde and Gregory, given that a huge theme of the record is destiny and fate, and whether we can change our path in life. These were all lyrics that existed before the initial album was scrapped – they weren’t changed to reflect the turmoil the band had been through.The Saboteur is equally inwardly looking – the line “I’m the saboteur of a future me” is a revelatory moment of self-reflection, countered by the positivity flowing from Real Life earlier that “I’m going to turn this whole thing round, like you wouldn’t believe” as if Hazel is convincing herself that she will go through with this and it will work.