“Skyme completes a secret journey that somehow found us.”
Lighthouse Tribe’s summing up of their new album applies both musically and geographically. Released more than two years after their debut Dissent, listeners soon sense how Skyme speaks with a slightly more resonant and time-honoured heartbeat. The harmonies too are now imbued with a decidedly northern feel, quite possibly Celtic. Although... “By association only,” Tom insists. “We’re not traditionalists. Nor are we qualified to be.”

Either way, it’s not uncommon for artists to navigate by the light of a newfound beacon along their far-flung travels. And since Skyme was entirely conceived and produced in Scotland a degree of homage was, perhaps, inevitable? “Let’s call it overdue,” says Gina. “We both re-immersed ourselves in a thriving local music scene which has polished up and diversified plenty in the past few years. That’s been inspiring and very refreshing, despite the recent setbacks.”

It’s not only the influence of Celtic modes and tonality that sets this album apart from its predecessor, but also a tangible relaxation of musical pace and complexity. All of which hints at, well, more air, less turbulence. Tom agrees. “The ‘fastest’ track now runs at 100bpm, but most clock in between 75 to 90bpm. Let’s hope Chillwave fans won’t mind us.”
Unlikely, because there’s far too much going on beneath the seemingly becalmed surface. Quirky synths still bubble through the shimmering layers of guitars, oddball metres trip time to the tremors of analogue bass lines, often counterpoised by serene orchestral strings. So far so Lighthouse Tribe. But a new “drummer” has since also joined the band, along with some mesmerising Celtic soundscapes and, yes, a fiddle. “That was a must,” says Tom, “so I stepped up, thinking, ‘As a guitarist – how hard can it be?’ I had my answer when Gina failed to stick around for the first phase of that experiment.”

Despite these innovations and the re-calibration of style and genre, it seems fair to say that Lighthouse Tribe have stayed true to their core quest for “prismatic” music. Perhaps Skyme simply developed more organically, as a natural if oblique reflection of its time and place, unwitting yet cherished. Which might be borne out by the album title itself. “It’s a Scots word, meaning to catch a brief, transient glimpse of something,” Gina explains. “Like a flash, or a gleam of light.”

© 2021 Lighthouse Tribe.