Lanterns on the Lake at Scala

Five-piece indie rock band Lanterns on the Lake passed through Kings Cross’ Scala before taking their UK tour north. They gave London a show of their older music, as well as a first chance to hear some of the new tracks from upcoming album Until the Colours Run.

Hazel Wilde had a surprisingly soft voice between songs. Her crowd chatter was almost timid, but her singing voice was very clear and travelled well. Its vaguely breathy quality still came across in the large crowded room.

Lanterns on the Lake sound less generic than a lot of indie rock: their Facebook page lists their genre as “cinematic indie” and while your mileage may vary as to how much of a stretch that is, their sound definitely had a film score quality. It constantly builds up to something and the band pull off these transitions and crescendos very well. The force of such moments was readily apparent and very natural live. On the flip side, they have a tendency to draw out the slower segments in a way that becomes tedious. This was very clear in songs like Another Tale From Another English Town. There are only so many times you can repeat a single line before the audience gets bored.

There was some arbitrary, abstract film footage of the sun coming through various bits of foliage, which played in the background throughout the set. Unfortunately, and despite the cinematic influence of their music, it didn’t add anything to the show and felt gimmicky because it was so pseudo-artsy.

Lanterns on the Lake spattered the set with a selection of new songs that, although not having really moved away from their older sound, had a subtle difference. While performing the new album’s title track Until the Colours Run for example, the band did a better job of creating the atmosphere they seemed to want to achieve, though it’s hard to say precisely why. Chalk it up to simple improvement.

Overall Lanterns on the Lake played well and the show ran smoothly. Nobody seemed to be particularly blown away, but the whole experience was enjoyable.

Francis Davies

For further information and future events visit Lanterns on the Lake’s website here. 

Watch the video for Another Tale from Another English Town here: