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May 10, 2023 By Mark Redfern Photography by Rob Irish

British band Lanterns on the Lake are releasing a new album, Versions of Us, on June 2 via Bella Union. Now they have shared its third single, “Real Life.” For Versions of Us Radiohead’s Philip Selway has joined the band on drums. Check out “Real Life” below.

In a press release, Lantern on the Lake’s vocalist Hazel Wilde had this to say about the new song: “This song is about living your imaginary fully realized life. It’s about the promise that you make to yourself and others of something better rather than living in the moment and accepting who and where you are. It’s essentially one for the daydreamers.”

Previously Lanterns on the Lake shared the album’s first single, “The Likes of Us.” Then they shared its second single, “String Theory,” which was one of our Songs of the Week.

Versions of Us is the band’s fifth album and follows 2020’s Spook the Herd (which was nominated for the Mercury Prize) and 2015’s Beings.

In a previous press release, Wilde said that becoming a mother affected the new album: “Writing songs requires a certain level of self-indulgence, and songwriters can be prone to dwelling on themselves. Motherhood made me aware of having a different stake in the world. I’ve got to believe that there’s a better way and an alternative future to the one we’ve been hurtling towards. I’ve also got to believe that I could be better as a person, too.”

Original drummer Ol Ketteringham left the band when they were working on the initial version of the new album, which Wilde said was “heartbreakingly difficult as we were and still are extremely close.” Consequently, Lanterns of the Lake abandoned nearly a year’s worth of work, and then Selway joined the fray, jumpstarting the album again.

“Philip brought an energy to the songs that reignited our belief in them,” said Wilde. “Within a few weeks we had a whole other version of the album and things felt very different. We had changed the destiny of the record.”

Selway recently released a new solo album, Strange Dance, on February 24 via Bella Union. Read our interview with him about it here.

Read our 2020 Self-Portrait interview with Lanterns of the Lake’s Hazel Wilde.

Read our review of Beings here.

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