babyshambles

State Magazine (14 January 2009)

ALBUM REVIEW: London, England by The Lightyears – 4/5
14 January 2009
Phil Udell, State Magazine, Ireland

When The Feeling made the graduation from playing covers in bars in the Alps to becoming the soft rock band of choice, it was three-piece The Lightyears who filled the gap. Now on their second album, the experience is long behind them but like their predecessors, the importance of making their own material as memorable as possible has hit home. The good news is that they’ve become more focused than in the past, less likely to sound like a bizarre compilation of different acts. They’re at their best making bright and breezy pop in the Jellyfish mould, tracks such as ‘Emily’ and ‘Sleepless’ floating along on a wave of harmony-filled choruses and rolling pianos. ‘This House Will Burn’, meanwhile, sounds like Babyshambles with less drugs and better manners.

The Lightyears still can’t help themselves though and feel the need to push off in different directions, fortunately not without some success. The clunky ‘She’s The One’ and ‘Filmstar’ aside, their attempts at a harder, more rock edge work well, especially the opening instrumental ‘Firefly’ and the short, Beatles-y ‘That Was Us’.

The grandeur of the album title never really translates itself into the album itself – and lyrics about Primrose Hill and the Tube can be a bit grating – but on ‘England’ they reach for epic and manage to pull it off. In a world of passing fashion, fake credibility and media hype, The Lightyears are able to stand out for all the right reasons, but that might just make their task all the harder.

www.State.ie

“London, England” sells out on US tour

We had such an overwhelming response from American fans during our recent Stateside tour that hard copies of our latest album, London, England, have now completely sold out.

The album is still available on iTunes priced £7.90. Click here to buy your copy.

Watch this space for a re-pressing of the album for those of you who prefer the old school format!

We released London, England in January 2009. It features many of our most popular tracks including “This House Will Burn”, “Emily” and “Sleepless”. The latter two tracks were produced by Hugh Padgham, the four time Grammy-winning producer responsible for selling over 50 million records with Sting, Paul McCartney, Elton John and many more.

Ireland’s State Magazine gave the record 4/5 and described the band as “Babyshambles with better manners”. Read the review by clicking here.

Further reviews of the album can be read here, here and here.

Read my blog on the experience of recording London, England by clicking here.

First reviews of “London, England”

The first reviews of the new album are beginning to trickle in from various sources.

Irish national music magazine State gave it four out of five stars, proclaiming that “in a world of passing fashion, fake credibility and media hype, The Lightyears are able to stand out for all the right reasons”.

Click here to read State’s review of London, England.

Following the publicity in State, the Dublin-based radio station Phantom FM reviewed the album on air on Friday afternoon. Phil Udell described the band as “Babyshambles without the drugs – and with better manners”.

Click here to listen to Phantom FM’s review of London, England.

The all-powerful blogging scene is also beginning to pick up on the release and early reviews have recently come in from the Canada-based blog BestInBritishMusic and dualling indie critics Monkton Vs Plankton.

“London, England is a great upbeat album – and a surefire way to beat those winter blues…” BESTINBRITISHMUSIC, CANADA

Click here to read BestInBritishMusic’s review of London, England.

“2009 has been generous to us so far, with great new albums from Animal Collective and Franz Ferdinand. London, England is further proof that this might just be the year that keeps on giving…” MONKTON VS PLANKTON

Click here to read Monkton Vs Plankton’s review of London, England.