Versions Of Us, Lanterns On The Lake, LP

Lanterns on the Lake follow up 2020's Mercury Prize nominated Spook the Herd with their self-produced fifth studio album, Versions of Us. Radiohead's Philip Selway joined the band to provide drums and percussion after the departure of Oliver Ketteringham. The nine songs on 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." Mixed by the band's guitarist Paul Gregory, in the bedroom of his home in North Shields, there is a sense of time and place that runs deep throughout this record. Versions of Us is the most empowering album yet from the band. In exploring whether we can change fate or are doomed to repeat the same mistakes in life, this powerful collection of songs ultimately alights on hope. It's never too late to change course.