Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There is so much regret, so much intense remorse and mourning that comes across in The Lake Poets self titled new album that the listener has to place a steely resolve between the heartbreaking emotion on offer and the warmth of unbridled sentiment that is captured with passion and genius. The regret of a single person might be missed in the pointing of fingers and loud roars of accusations, especially when that person’s genuine protests of innocence have been ignored, however it only takes one person willing to listen to understand the truth and to be moved by it completely.

To be moved by The Lake Poets is to feel humanity, the obsession of melancholy and guilt of being unable to have solved an issue and to experience grief for the past; it is a movement that truly captures the soul and asks for forgiveness in sincere measure.

In feeling that humanity so tightly wrapped that it becomes second nature to go with the outpouring of truth and legitimate anguish that the lyrics are trying to put across, the listener is placed under the same pressures that the musician is trying to shake off; it is that shared experience of empathy that once released is one that will never leave the mind or spirit.

In regret comes strength and unity and it is that strength of character that in the end allows the album to be seen and enjoyed for the courage it displays, utterly convincing in its charm, precise in its conviction, The Lake Poets doesn’t just wallow in its accuracy to explain the artist’s side of the story, it pin points the moment and shoots an arrow straight through its broken heart, putting the misery behind it so it can eventually move on.

In songs such as Edinburgh, where the fragility of relationships is born out, 1996, See You Tonight and Orphans, The Lake Poets raise the prospect of reality to a different level; they are aware that a story has two sides to it but they also understand that sometimes the truth is hidden in a third direction, in a hole that has been covered over and sealed.

A beautifully sincere album, one of outstanding candour, The Lake Poets have produced a quality recording full of spirited certainty.

Ian D. Hall