Musically, this is a leaner Lanterns on the Lake – at times unusually stark. Their sound has
been beautifully winnowed into something more pared back, urgent and direct – in-keeping
with Wilde’s messages - on an album loaded with songs marked by an arresting intimacy.
“Swimming Lessons”, first teased as an in-progress idea on Instagram, is writhing and
supple as Gregory’s arpeggiated guitar dovetails with Ol Ketteringham’s pulsating
drumming and Wilde’s keening vocal. “Every Atom” rides on insistent beats which lay a bed
for a warped and playfully robotic guitar line, while “Secrets and Medicine” weaves and
lopes achingly, weaving its atmosphere from Spartan means: piano, celestial guitars and
diminished brass.
