Childhood – Lacuna

As many bands do, Childhood found their origins at university. But as most bands don’t, four years later they have successfully made it out of student halls and into the wide world with Lacuna, a debut album that takes some classic rock influences and mellows them out to combine with the more relaxed and fresh indie style of music so popular today.

Listening through the record, Lacuna has a strong and consistent sound, and although there is a lack of standout moments, it does have some interesting songs where the tone twists and becomes somewhat darker or lighter (Right Beneath Me and Chiliad respectively). The most recent single As I Am has a lovely ethereal feel to it that works well with the indie/rock style of the band, and the smooth lead vocals of Ben Romans Hopcraft go a long way towards creating a signature sound for Childhood. Having a lead singer with a distinctive voice is a feature found in many success stories – Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon and Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys are two examples, with their vocals instantly recognisable and intrinsically linked to their bands. Although it’s early days for Childhood, they have the potential to achieve this kind of sound, and Lacuna could be a sign of great things to come.

While certainly an enjoyable album, it feels a little like it stopped at about 90 per cent. There’s a certain something hiding within the music that you want to try and coax out; as the saying goes, it doesn’t have that certain “je ne sais quoi”; a phrase literally translating to “I don’t know what”, it’s unclear what that last ten per cent would contain, but Childhood have certainly whet their audience’s appetite. And whether they tip the scale or not in the future, Lacuna is a great listen and overall, a promising debut.

Amy McLelland

Lacuna was released on 11^th August 2014, for further information or to order the album visit here.

Watch the video for As I Am here: