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After an eight-year gap between the 2011 self-titled debut album, and its 2019 successor ‘In The In Between’, art pop-rock duo League Of Lights are on a bit of a roll, and thanks to the lockdown, have managed to come up with a new album in a relatively short space of time. Had the pandemic and subsequent worldwide lockdown been a figment of the imagination, or straight out of the pages of a fiction novel, then chances are that Richard West, one-half of League Of Lights, would have been on the road playing keyboards with British Prog stalwarts Threshold. But it wasn’t any of the above, and along with the other-half of League Of Lights (sorry, I can’t abbreviate the band name down to LOL, just can’t do it), vocalist Farrah West, the pair have created album number three; ‘Dreamers Don’t Come Down’.
The variation that ‘Dreamers Don’t Come Down’ offers up, is best exemplified by the singles released so far from the album. ‘Modern Living’ is an insanely catchy slice of indie electro-pop that doesn’t go overboard with synths; instead, it has a deep, pulsating bass groove, and one of the best piano hooks for some time. Try as you might, you will not be able to shake it off. ‘The Collector’ is, in places, more uptempo, and features soaring, uplifting vocals from Farrah West that burrow their way into the listener’s psyche (especially the layered, choral backing vocals). Very light, with another gorgeous piano tone, the track works even better now that the sun has come out to play. Finally, new single ‘Persephone’ is perhaps the happiest, jolliest track about death that you will hear this year. With a simple drum beat controlling the tempo, it’s a fairly fast-paced track that gets better with each listen, the last few minutes are beautifully sublime, and offer up some hope of “light at the end of the tunnel”. The drums though, do steal the show.
The remaining eight tracks help ‘Dreamers Don’t Come Down’ stand out as a body of work to be equally devoured both as standalone tracks, as well as consuming it from start-to-finish in an “album” sense. ‘Twenty Twenty One’ is a beautiful track that mixes haunting vocals with sharp explosions of music (where the drums and piano feature heavily again), ‘Ghosts’ is a special moment that somehow manages to push the button marked “happy” while offering up some pretty dark lyrical content, ‘Dreamers’ is as dreamy as you might imagine a track with that title to be (it’s almost like the listener is floating above the fluffiest of fluffy clouds), ‘Lines In The Sand’ is a real slow-burning track where the impressive vocals from Farrah West reign supreme, and ‘North Of The Sun’ might just have you swaying from side-to-side during the latter stages of this particular gem (the orchestral arrangements are faultless).
Much to admire on album number three from League Of Lights, the overwhelming sensation of warmth being just one reason. The incredible song-craft and performances being a few others. Expect to smile all the way through the album.
Available now, more information, here.
