Lanterns on the Lake / Rescue Rooms / Nottingham
As for so many bands, it seems so long ago since “Spook the Herd” was released. It feels strange post pandemic for bands to be touring ‘new’ albums, which somehow feel like old friends and yet we haven’t heard the music live before.
Last night we welcomed the 2020 Mercury Music Award nominees Lanterns on the Lake to Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms. The set list comprised almost entirely from “Spook the Herd” with just Through the Cellar Door and Beings from the 2018 album “Beings”. Lanterns comprise of Hazel Wilde (vocals, guitar & piano), Paul Gregory (guitar), Oliver Ketteringham (drums), Bob Allan (bass) and Angela Chan (violin).
We opened the show with a storming performance of one of my favourite tracks from “Spook the Herd” in When it All Comes True with Hazel on keyboard, this one is a real showcase for her wonderfully fragile and delicate vocals. After, Hazel addressed the crowd and reminded us that it’s been 10 years since the band last played in Nottingham, offering an apology “sorry we’re late” to laughter from the crowd.
This was followed by Blue Screen Beams before we were greeted with the wonderful track Every Atom, and this one shows the sense of intimacy of the album so well, and demonstrates their flawless musical skills and storytelling abilities perfectly. Slow and relaxed it drifts over the audience, with lyrics such as “If I had to split every atom just to find a trace of you. That’s what I’ll do.”
The sense of intimacy continues with Swimming Lessons and another beautiful vocal performance from Hazel. Our senses hardly have time to settle again before we dive head first into another highlight of the set in Before they Excavate. Starting again with gentle piano the track builds gradually adding bass and strings. It’s an emotional track which has a sense of end of days to it, with apocalyptical weather changes from the viewpoint of someone digging up, excavating their past (our present)…. “some day, they’ll carbon date this whole sorry mess we made”. But the track isn’t bleak, it suggests at empowerment and that we have the chance to change things ourselves……. While we can. “This whole planet could go up in flames tonight, and your small talking just about killing me here”.
Next up we go back to 2018’s “Beings” for Through the Cellar Door¸ which changes the pace is a jolting return to Earth. It’s unexpected and unsettling, with more powerful and haunting vocals.
We slow it down again with Secrets and Medicine, a slow, mournful track about loss “Your soul is wearing thin, You say ‘hollow me out and start again’ Secrets and medicine. Only last week you were on the mend”. Simply stunning.
The no nonsense lyrics are intimate and create a real sense of individuality, as if hazel is singing just to you. We dive into Baddies which is a great showcase for the rhythm with great drumming (Oliver) and bass (Bob) as the track rages…… “They’ve got the money, but we’ve got heart and nothing left to lose.” Above the strong rhythm on this one, the violin (Angela) and guitar (Paul) provide subtle depth. The vocal delivery on this one is wonderful, and has a delicate vulnerability to it, but changes and becomes more aggressive in the chorus lines “Say alright. They’ll get you in the end and I tried but you’re up, you’re down again”.
Next up we have This is Not a Drill before we are entertained by the title track from 2018’s Beings.
The stylistic difference from the more recent “Spook the Herd” is evident, but it creates a delightful change, as the guitars shimmer and the strings seem to flutter and waft across the engrossed audience.
Finally we come to A Fitting End to round off the evening, with acoustic guitar intro, the track builds subtly in its intensity, the drums becoming more dominant and are the cornerstone of the track as it builds to a crescendo ending, the lyrics definitely a fitting end to the evening “Oh, what a fitting ending. Oh, what a perfect scene, What a die-for moment this turned out to be, This turned out to be”. Finally the track calms again and drifts away lingering on Hazel’s vocals……
And with that, it’s all over. The whole evening has had a dreamlike feel to it. We’ve not so much been to a concert, as bathing in audio emotion. Quite frankly, it’s been simply stunning !
The Rescue Rooms show has ended this run of shows, but they are back in December 2021 with shows at Trades Club (Hebden Bridge 09/12), and the Boiler Shop (Newcastle 10/12) and then in January 2022 with shows at the Boiler Room Guildford 12/01), Patterns (Brighton 13/01), Phoenix (Exeter 14/01) and Pound Arts Centre (Corsham 15/01).
Set List
When it all Comes True
Blue Screen Beams
Every Atom
Swimming Lessons
Before they Excavate
Through the Cellar Door
Secrets and Medicine
Baddies
This is not a Drill
Beings
A Fitting End
Support was provided by Hilang Child, the solo project of Ed Riman supported by Sofia Grant on keyboards, sax and vocals. Ed entertained the audience with a set list made up almost entirely with tracks from his 2021 album “Every Mover” with just the one (final) track I Wrote a Letter Home from 201’s album “Years”.
And what an incredible performance we got. Both are excellent multi-instrumentalists, Ed alternated between drums and keyboards, and Sofia between keyboards and sax, both providing vocals as well. Indeed their vocals complimented each others perfectly. Musically different from Lanterns, but the perfect support foil for the main act to follow. I loved the subtle backing vocals adding both depth and emotion to the performance.
Hilang Child’s sound is delightful. The real highlights were Shenley / Seen the Boreal and Good to Be Young which reminds us to look back on the freedom of youth. There is a real positivity to Riman’s music which makes you smile and brightens the soul.
A thoroughly enjoyable set well worth arriving early for.
Set List
Good to be Young
Pesawat Aeroplane
King Quail
The Next Hold
Shenley / Seen the Boreal
Anthropic (Cold Times)
Earthborne
I Wrote a Letter Home
Hilang Child has recently release a powerful 5 track EP project, in collaboration with Prabumi and Ninda Felina, sonically exploring humanity and culture’s relationship with the natural world and the footprint we’re leaving behind. The destruction of the forests in Indonesia for palm oil, monoculture paper production and illegal logging is known to be critically harming thousands of endangered animal species, contributing dangerous levels of carbon to the atmosphere and posing a threat to hundreds of indigenous ethnic groups, cultures and languages.
All three, spent time recording the natural soundscapes of threatened wild places in both the UK and Indonesia, snapshots of local culture and artistic traditions, and the sounds of modern industry which are inescapable around the world. We built a library of field recordings and used them to write five pieces of music exploring this delicate balance between humanity and nature.
The opening track Nature, represents the untouched world in its unaltered state. In Harmony, the second track, they explore the emergence of human culture before the advent of mass industry. In track three Destruction we see humanity beginning our disregard for the natural environment, over-exploiting resources and destroying & polluting the planet for profit. The fourth track is Loss here the collaborators wanted to reminder us all of the tragic impact humans are having on the environment, permanently altering the planet’s future and wiping out species which have existed for millions of years. Finally, we come to the last track Rebirth, intended as a hopeful message that we as a society are beginning to take notice of our impact, as we see the embers of huge cultural and scientific movements dedicated to ensuring a future for our planet and restoring the balance between us and the environment.
Stream the full 5-track EP by clicking HERE
Purchase the full EP on Bandcamp HERE
