Belgium-based five-piece The Lighthouse explore new sonic landscapes on their debut album Whatever Comes Our Way. Brimming with effortlessly catchy hooks, Eighties-inspired synths and anthemic, singalong choruses, the band’s treatment of upbeat pop songs with intimate, brooding moments shines through on this record. I had a chat with The Lighthouse to find out more about how they wrote the album, their influences and the music scene in Leuven.
Words by Annie Rew Shaw
Discovered via http://musosoup.com
Annie) Hey guys! Can you introduce the band to our readers?
The Lighthouse) Sure! We are five guys from Belgium who like to write and play indie music. We’ve often been compared to bands like Two Door Cinema Club or The 1975, which always strikes us as a great compliment. We’ve released two EPs so far and recently we had the pleasure of putting out our debut album.
Congratulations on that new album, Whatever Comes Our Way. What was the writing and recording process like?
The writing process came naturally. We knew we wanted the record to be diverse, so we set out to do different things from the beginning. Because we knew what we wanted, we could gradually find out what we wanted the next song to sound like and what its function on the complete record would be. When we wrote a straightforward guitar-driven song like ‘Tel Aviv’, we could follow it up with a more downtempo, Eighties synth vibe like ‘Redwing pt 2’.
Some bands write 30 tracks and have to choose which ones make it to the final record. We only wrote one song that did not make it, and I think we could even end up recording it one day, maybe for a future release. We are really attached to what we write, every song has its vision right from the start.
We are also very keen on experimenting sonically, for example by making the guitar sound like a synth, or the synth like a guitar. It’s such a pleasure to erase the borders between instruments and layer everything up to achieve a completely new sound, especially when it falls perfectly into its place in the song. We always try to combine that sonic process with the melody writing in the first stages of the song. That way each part feels like it has its purpose.
It’s funny sometimes, hearing the different sounds out of context and wondering what we were doing but, along with all the other parts, these strange sounds have their function and often end up as a backbone of the song.
Which is your favourite track on the album?
We are very proud of the ‘Redwing pt1’ and ‘...pt2’ combination. We’ve always wanted to do an instrumental but were kinda struggling to make it sound like a Lighthouse track. With ‘Redwing pt1’ we took the liberty of experimenting with arpeggio-driven synthwave. The song resolves in a completely different atmosphere, focusing on a warm and smooth guitar part providing almost a catharsis. Then, with the help of an airy choir part, we transition into ‘Redwing pt2’.
If you could tour with any band in the world, who would it be and why?
I think we’d choose The 1975. They have an extra tour bus with them while on the road, with a studio room built in. It would be fun to hop in there sometimes! They are such an amazing band, using their platform to talk and raise awareness. They have an amazing live show and a very engaged audience who we’d love to play for.
You’re based in Leuven, Belgium. What’s the music scene like there?
Belgians have the pleasure of an extremely vivid music scene. Such a small country, but so many great acts. By international standards, Leuven is a pretty tiny city but we have some great venues and opportunities for young bands. We adore playing for our hometown crowd. And afterwards there’s plenty of opportunity to have a rewarding Stella (our town’s beer and pride).
You’ve got some UK gigs coming up. What can we expect from your live shows?
We try to introduce the crowd to the different sides of our sound. The set is designed to smash out some great tunes of the more happy and uptempo kind, while also providing time for our more layered, atmospheric tracks. We aim to take you into a Friday night mindset, consisting both of fuzzy dancing memories and romantic floatiness. We’re in the UK at the end of November: Sheffield, Leeds and London on November 27, 28 and 29 respectively!
The Lighthouse will be performing at The Finsbury, London N4 on Friday 29 November.