The fourth record from the Watford six-piece, this album is a product of a good few things. The records that came before it, an aim to create music that truly mirrors the emotions that led to it’s creation and a new collectively shared mantra of ‘if it sounds good, then it’s good’. All of this has led to Slow Fade, a record that is without question the most accomplished concise release from the band thus far and a release radiant with charm.
Whilst still inherently an emo record, to dub a genre tag on Slow Fade and be done with it would be something of a great disservice. Whilst the record still retains all the well expressed math rock, post rock and indie motifs that made their previous records just so engaging and brilliant, here, Lakes broaden their horizons. With a greater focus on pacing and dynamics, Lakes incorporate an array of new instrumentalism into their sound whilst pushing the envelope on what modern day emo can sound like. The end result is a wonderful record, one that see’s Lakes widening their musical vocabulary in order to articulate their charming and intricate craft with more charisma.
With Slow Fade out today via Lucky Art in collaboration with Big Scary Monsters, got in touch with vocalist Roberto Cappellina to break down the record, track by track.
Annecy
Ironically we wrote the opening song last. Matt (Shaw, drums), sent me the acoustic instrumental, but every time I listened I felt like it was crying out for an abrupt ‘heavier’ section, so I wrote a part two. Lyrically it kind of sums up our shared experience of what it’s taken to make this band work; less talk, more action and taking several leaps of faith. There’s also some scratching shoehorned in there, which we’re very happy with.
Trouble
I’ve always loved singers who tell stories in their writing; like Joni Mitchell and Tom Petty, but that style has never come natural to me. This one gave me the confidence to try it more. The song also features another first-time instrument for us, with some congas, because why not?
Peach Fuzz
I was listening to a lot of Phoenix when I first demoed this (what a band by the way). It obviously sounds nothing like them, but that’s was the inspiration; from the groove, to the de-tuned snare. Matt said it needed a catchy title, and I’d just watched the movie ‘Creep’, so ‘Peach Fuzz’ seemed like a shoo-in.
Version
This was originally going to be an instrumental, but I could hear Georgia from fellow Watford band High Regard singing on it. Cory who we met when we played with American Football also features with some vibrophone, synth and percussion. We kind of just let him do his thing. What a guy.
Hypernow
This is another one which is kind of about being in a band, and the pressures of always trying to be visible, which can be arbitrary. That said, when you’ve a passion and a mission, it’s kind of hard to switch off. I manually played the beat at the end to give it that wonkiness, and again, Cory came through with the goods on vibes and synth.
Carousel
I really struggled with the vocals on this one. Ironically it’s the only ‘first-take’ song on the record. I remember Matt was listening to a lot of Hovvdy and Slow Pulp when he demoed it, and I think that comes through in the groove and overall vibe. We don’t really write slacker…it’s kind of like a slacker-ballad…a slallad.
Edge of Reason
This was going to be the title track until it was pointed out to us that it’s also the title of a Bridget Jones movie. The sentiment behind it though, again, refers to being in a band. Going to the edge of reasonable behaviour to the point where it borders unreasonable behaviour, just to do the thing you love. And by unreasonable behaviour, I mean burning money.
Faded Flowers
I’m really proud of this song. The tuning (EACECE Capo 1) was actually an accident, and I don’t think it’s good for much else. Originally there weren’t any electronic drums for the first half of the song, but because of the groove, it was kind of hard to find the pulse in the verses without something helping it along. The song is about the town I grew up
in, and the youthful energy that still exists whenever people get back together.
Thread
I spoke about the band Hovvdy before. It’s pretty wild that Ben who plays with Hovvdy features on this with some pedal steel. When I say wild, we did ask him, and he said yes. This is another song of two halves – seems to be a theme. We asked Steve who mixed the album to make the ending sound so big, as if he were taking the piss.
Toro
The textures of Broken Social Scene and The Flaming Lips have been a huge influence on this record. Toro started off as an idea with just the chords and the drums, which I sent to Matt, who then Lakesifide it. We wanted the vocals to be quite minimal, as if it were a remix or something you’d hear on a BSS album. The lyrics are about longing for THE summer of your youth.
Green Eyes
Just like with the opening song, we ironically wrote the closer first. Again, Matt sent me the first half, but this time I could hear like a Phil Collins ‘Easy Lover’ kind of section to follow it, so I tracked it and sent it back. Cory added some more texture to the outro to make it sound way bigger than we ever could, to the point where we couldn’t not close the album with it.