lanterns on the lake

Top Ten Albums of 2023

/ James Fenney

It’s almost time for our Listmas season, and indeed the year as a whole, to draw to a close. While the past twelve months have had their share of ups and downs, as all years are wont to do, I think in all seriousness 2023 has been the strongest year as a whole for new releases since the blog was founded. Reflecting and reminiscing on all the fabulous music we’ve enjoyed, it feels a little baffling that it was all crammed into such a short span of time. Narrowing down our favourite albums from such a bumper offering has been no mean feat, but getting an excuse to revisit them all again has been an absolute dream. So, without further ado, here’s our top ten albums of the past year. Continue reading →

Live Review: Lanterns on the Lake, Rescue Rooms Nottingham, 21st Nov 2021

/ James Fenney

I don’t know about you, but the pandemic has completely messed up my understanding of the passage of time. With so long spent where the days just bleed together, it’s hard to get your head around it again when for a while it lost all meaning. At times the whole thing feels like a blur, and you’re surprised to discover a moment that felt like yesterday was nearly two years ago. And yet sometimes you register just how long you’ve waited to see some light at the end of the tunnel, how much you’ve yearned for some normality, that you can scarce believe when it finally arrives. There was certainly a lot of the latter at play when it came to this gig. I was already long overdue to catch Belwood favourites Lanterns on the Lake when I first bought the ticket, and that day feels like an age ago. Now, after being rescheduled so many times I actually lost count, came the surreal experience of actually seeing them live and in person when for so long it felt like it was never gonna happen. Continue reading →

Top Ten Albums of 2020

/ James Fenney

As our list season draws to a close, it’s time to look back on the very best albums of the past twelve months. In spite of chaos reigning in 2020, creative juices have definitely been flowing, as Belwood has been bombarded with more new music than ever before. There’s no way we could ever cover it all, and there have been a lot of records that we never managed to get around to, but these ten releases are absolute must-listens in my mind. They represent some of the most enthralling music that has kept our spirits up in this most trying of years. Continue reading →

Best Songs of the 2010s (#50-26)

/ James Fenney

songs1There’s nothing quite like a truly great song. Just a few short minutes of musical brilliance can change your life. It can be the backdrop to falling in love and be the soundtrack to the first dance at your wedding, or it can be the voice you rely upon to talk you down from the edge when your world feels like it’s falling apart. Great songs can stay with you for a lifetime, and there was no shortage of songs like that over the course of the past ten years. We did our best to narrow it down to our top 50, and as with our albums list we limited it to one song per act. Let’s get to it! Continue reading →

Best Albums of the 2010s (#50-26)

/ James Fenney

albums1It’s the dawning of a new decade, and as such we have a chance to look back not just on the past year of music, but the past ten years! Compiling the 50 most defining, moving, engaging, singular, exhilarating, influential and inspirational albums of the 2010s has been Belwood’s most challenging endeavour ever, not least because we limited it to one album per act. At long last however, we have our list: Continue reading →

Top Tracks: Lanterns On The Lake – Every Atom

/ James Fenney

As 2019 begins winding down, and a new year lies just around the corner, my thoughts are already turning to what new albums I have to look forward to in 2020. After finding myself bewitched by their last record Beings way back in 2015, the news that Lanterns On The Lake have a new record on the way puts them right at the top of my list. If lead single ‘Every Atom’ is anything to go by, the new album will be every bit as stunning as the last. The first cut from Spook The Herd, out 21st February, ‘Every Atom’ is a beautifully bittersweet ode to love and loss. Written about the death of a loved one and the struggle to accept that they are gone forever, it sees the band at their lyrical peak. Its chorus of “If I have to split every atom just to find a trace of you, That’s what I’ll do” is as poignant and hard-hitting as any I’ve heard since starting the blog. To hear such rich and inventive lyricism delivered in Hazel Wilde’s dreamy vocals is just the icing on the cake.

2016 in Hindsight

/ James Fenney

hindsight

Original photo: Joe Mabel

There are many times I wish I could have some special sixth sense to detect when amazing music is released, that way I could catch all those albums that would otherwise slip past my radar. Granted it certainly wouldn’t be my first choice for a superpower, but it’s up there! To err is human and there are bound to be a few albums that we miss that are worthy of a mention. Here’s a quick round-up of some of the best music of 2016 that sadly slipped through the cracks and never found its way onto the site.  Continue reading →

Top ten albums of 2015

/ James Fenney

record wall

It’s been an amazing year, and it’s time to look back on the best of what 2015 has had to offer. It’s been a particularly good year for new artists as debut albums take up half of my top ten, beating some bigger acts such as Tame Impala and Foals who deserve an honourable mention. So without any further ado, here are the best albums of the year based on Belwood Music’s ratings. Continue reading →