Lydia - Illuminate

Lydia



Illuminate

With the release of their impressive debut, This December; It's One More and I'm Free, Lydia flew mostly under the radar. If there's anything right in the world (and there probably isn't), their even more impressive sophomore effort, Illuminate, should cause the music-listening masses to look up and pay a bit more attention to this young band - and not just because of the less pretentious album title. There are a lot of similarities between the two: almost all of the songs flow quite seamlessly into each other, creating a single atmosphere that envelops the entire album; the instrumentation is layered, dreamy, and calming but far from boring; Leighton Antelman's unique breathy vocals tie everything together and are complimented perfectly by strategically placed ethereal female background vocals (though that job has changed hands since the debut; Maria Sais De Sicilia has been replaced by Mindy White). These reasons are why Illuminate is such an amazing album; it has all of the best aspects of This December, only magnified a thousand times, the formula perfected. The instrumentation and songwriting is tighter, the vocals are more refined, and the songs manage to be both more connected to each other and more unique on their own than they were on the debut. Illuminate is not only an enjoyable listening experience, it takes you over entirely until you're lost in the dream-like world its songs create. Not many bands can create an album that is so flawless and cohesive that it practically demands to be listened to in full every single time, but Lydia does this with an impressive maturity and depth that betrays the members' young ages.

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I tried, but it's impossible to find words grand enough to aptly describe just how perfect this album is. This review doesn't even come close to translating how these songs make me feel. Seriously, people - if you only download one song on this entire page of entries, make it "Now the One You Once Loved Is Leaving". Your ears will thank you and then they will beg you to download the rest of these tracks as well. And also, if you love these and want to hear the entire album, please seriously consider purchasing it. This band needs all the support they can get and I promise, the rest is just as good; you will not be disappointed.

• This Is Twice Now
• Hospital
• One More Day
• Now the One You Once Loved Is Leaving