A poetic sophomore album showing future promise.
Loss is never an easy experience, though it can elicit very different responses. As rising alternative folk artist Luke James Williams explains, “Grief is universal, but it often feels very isolating”. Some people understandably feel mired in the overwhelming emotions this entails, but sometimes an unexpected consequence appears in the blossoming of new ideas and perspectives. This is the origin of Lime Hotel, William’s second album, recorded over a period of nine months at Unit Studios, Hertfordshire, alongside collaborator Nick Kozuch and guest vocalist Dear Wife.
Lime Hotel is characterised by a quiet intensity, in which atmospheric textures are explored over the album’s mainstays: Williams’ vocals and handpicked guitar patterns. These elements serve as the backbone for heavily narrative songs, often enhanced by dark undertones. A good example of this is the opening track Saints in the Trees, in which the true story of an encounter with a statue in Anglesey Abbey serves as inspiration for the use of unsettling imagery.
It’s clear that Lime Hotel comes from a place that is both raw and honest, an idea that’s reinforced by Williams’ vocal delivery. There are some greatly appealing tracks, like Knocking for Reasons, with its brass sections and jangling percussion, and Full Moon, forward-marching and burning with urgency. Yet the overall impression is of a slow-burning album in which some of the more stirring ideas seem diluted by the verbose storytelling. Over the eleven songs that make up the album, Williams finds a surer footing in the pithier lyrical segments, with some inspired poetic sketches.
