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Lakes – Start Again

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Melody Bot, Aug 9, 2021.

  1. Melody Bot

    Your friendly little forum bot. Staff Member

    This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply.

    Coming off of the critically praised The Constance LP, Lakes have returned with another full length album called Start Again. For those unfamiliar with the UK-based indie rockers, they are comprised of lead vocalist/guitarist Roberto Cappellina, vocalist/keyboardist/percussionist Blue Jenkins, drums/percussionist/guitarist Matt Shaw, bassist Charlie Smith, guitarist Rob Vacher and guitarist Gareth Arthur. Start Again was produced/mixed by Neil Strauch (Joan of Arc, Owls) and is a detailed exploration of topical themes like dealing with our mental health, the struggles with addiction, and making the tough decisions of getting rid of toxic friendships. Lakes are in the same realm of emo/indie bands like American Football, Stove, and Barely Civil. Your latest music obsession has arrived.

    The true magic of Lakes on Start Again occurs when they are able to hone in on the intricacies on what the instruments are doing in sync with Cappellina’s lyrics and vocal presence. For example, on the title track, Lakes are able to package everything that do well on this album into a majestic sounding first single. Cappellina described the song in a recent interview that, ”During lockdown last year my mental health was really suffering, and as a result, I had been self-medicating pretty hard. There’s a collective suffering right now which makes it harder to relate to an individual’s story, but this was my outlet.” Cappellina’s relatable struggle is endearing as it is heartbreaking as this album unfolds.

    Other standouts like the guitar-pop bliss of “No Excuses” and the reflective introspection of “Mirrors,” speak to the beauty behind Lakes’ ability to convey such raw emotion through great sounding indie rock songs. By the time you make your way through the punching closing duo of “Retrograde” and “Animals,” you should have a better understanding of the struggles Cappellina went through in making this record with his bandmates, and yet his persistence to continue his fight with his demons only speaks to the type of person he is. Lakes have used Start Again as their mantra and rallying cry for looking towards better days ahead.

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  2. mrenkens007

    All The Stars and Boulevards Prestigious

    Man, this is exactly what I wanted to listen to on a Monday morning. Thank you for this.
     
    paythetab likes this.
  3. jeff.dart

    Regular

    I was just not into this one compared to the previous album. Production seems to barren and the songs just don’t have the melodies and growth I was hoping for.
     
    j0hnnyrt likes this.
  4. peoplearepoison

    It takes strength to be gentle and kind Supporter

    I thought this was the watashi wa Lakes
     
  5. Liked their debut a whole lot, and have still found this one to be a step up. Nice to see some coverage on them!
     
    paythetab likes this.
  6. Matt Who

    Trusted Prestigious

    a nice person likes this.
  7. xburningcoffin

    KC

    I also thought this was Watashi Wa, there’s two things that are super confusing…why has Watashi Wa changed their name three times? They seem to be making pretty similar music. And why does a band come up with a name and not Google search and see that there is another group with the same name? There’s just no sense in this, even is the band is defunct I wouldn’t want to share their name…very odd to me
     
  8. peoplearepoison

    It takes strength to be gentle and kind Supporter

    what happened with watashi wa was the band broke up and Seth the singer started a new band called eager seas and was going to release an album called people like people. But tooth and nail said “we will make more money if you just call this watashi wa” so they did. Seth wasn’t happy about it so he started another band called Lakes which put out an EP on militia group. Later I think he put out a full length called the agreement independently under Eager seas but now you can find it on Spotify under Lakes. It’s all very confusing
     
    j0hnnyrt and Chase Tremaine like this.
  9. xburningcoffin

    KC

    The agreement came out originally under the Lakes moniker, it is all really confusing because now the whole Lakes discography is listed and retitled as Eager Seas releases on the streaming platforms, and still listed as the Lakes moniker, and it looks like they have been actively reearthing the Watashi Wa moniker…soo really confusing.
     
  10. Bartek T.

    D'oh! Prestigious

    All in all it's a lovely album! Really adore that band, though I too was weirded out by the use of an already existing name, which taking from they're clearly influenced by - I think they could have been aware of that ;D still, they're from UK, so it's popular to have bands named the same on different continents and brand them just as Lakes US and Lakes UK ;d