Hello Reader,
Welcome back. How are you today?
Today we’re going to illuminate an artist who’s putting out music for the first time under this project and also releasing music with record label support for the first time.
Ian Hatcher-Williams is an artist that performs under the moniker Lamplight. He’s lived quite a life so far, growing up in a New Age community in southwest Virginia where he pursued artistic endeavors including but not limited to playing music in various bands before choosing to put music on the backburner to study design and programming. A job opportunity in that field took Hatcher-Williams and his wife, Elizabeth to Brooklyn where Ian would co-found a digital design agency while Elizabeth found work at Nine Street Espresso. While Ian and Elizabeth were happy with their relationship, the stress of the city life and Ian’s job eventually played a significant toll on his physical and mental health. After a handful of difficult years, he parted ways with the design agency he co-founded. Luckily for hm, Espresso was a sanctuary for musicians. These musician would interact with the two and eventually begin fueling the creative process of not only Hatcher-Williams playing music again but forming a project that became an album, and helping the Hatcher-Williamses leave the city life to return closer to home in Virginia.
The self-titled debut album, Lamplight was recorded during COVID-19 in 2022 in a rented farmhouse in Appalachia. Returning to their native Viriginia has given both Ian and Elizabeth a needed sense of home and the songwriting and creating process has been cathartic for Hatcher-Williams sharing his experience the past number of years. The self-titled debut album came out via Western Vinyl Records on March 8th for your listening pleasure.
Giving credit where it’s due. Lamplight Album credits:
- Ian Hatcher-Williams: Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Additional Programming
- Kevin Copeland: Guitar, Pedal Steel, Bass, Vocals, Piano, Programming, Drums, Percussion. Copeland (Lightning Bug) also Produced and Engineered the album.
- Josh Chang: Cello, Piano
- Kevin Cabano: Guitar, Piano, Programming
- Adam Baber: Drums, Percussion
- Corin Dubie: Brass, Vocoder (a type of audio processor)
- John Collins McLaughlin: Violin
- Gabriel Wheaton: Violin
- Logan Miley: Synthesizers, Programming, Mixed the album.
- Amar Lal: Mastered the album.
And now some hype for your ears!
The story of them. “Lamplight”:
(All credits and rights to Western Vinyl and Lamplight)
The vintage visuals and beautiful arrangement on “Call Your Mom”:
(All credits and rights to Western Vinyl and Lamplight)
The bouncing ball music video that keeps you present and grateful, “House Rules”:
(All credits and rights to Western Vinyl and Lamplight)
Overall Lamplight is grounded in calm. At times it is triumphant and more expressive, more explorative, more explosive but its baseline sound and feel of the album is calm. The chosen and created melodies pair well with the lyrics and vocal deliveries throughout the album. Excellent arrangement on each song, and the pairing choices all worked whether it was strings, or percussion or other instrumentation paired with the guitar and drums. The songwriting overall is succinct, and there’s clever wordplay and refrain usage at times. Some might put this album in the Sad Bastard-y genre, and only listen to it during Midwestern Fall or Winter based on tempo and pace and overall vibe, but I disagree. That’s selling it short and painting it into a corner that it doesn’t deserve. Lamplight can and should be enjoyed at any point of the year. Kudos to the sonic team, it sounds great. This album worth adding to your collection on the format(s) of your choice.
The opening song, “Play” features lyrics that are contemplative in thought about moving. They compare the vocalists present living area to the future one. The melody is carried by drums, piano, pedal steel and multiple guitars.
In “Confrontation” the listener hears strings to start the melody and the strings create a mood before the consistent drum beat and Hatcher-Williams’ vocals kick in. The melody becomes a march forward. In this song, Hatcher-Williams uses a technique to shift his vocal pitch within lines of lyrics. The resulting sound that I hear, is that there is more emphasis on the beginning of the initial words and ending of the last words in a line. It pairs well and to me, works.
The song “Stillness” starts with a strong drumbeat, and soon discordant guitars are added to simulate one’s inner thoughts. The discordant guitars are not permanent, and the guitars are traded with quieter more normalized tones that really balance the sound out well. All noises combined together precisely describe one’s inner thoughts at times. The lyrics further elaborate on some of what’s frustrating Hatcher-Williams.
The lyrics of “Lamplight” tell the story of Ian and Elizabeth. It’s a magnificent story of humans in love. Ian’s vocal delivery is succinct once again. The melody involves brass to make give the song a triumphant effect.
“Call Your Mom” is a beautiful and stripped-down melody of guitars, drums, brass and strings that allows Hatcher-Williams vocals to shine. The song title screams of a call to action for the listener. The lyrics inspired by a trip to a bar bathroom, ponder when the last time a call was made or received, the distance between people and the passage of time.
In the song, “House Rules” the melody is anchored by drums and guitars and synth is also arresting. The lyrics tell a perspective of assuredness and moving forward, and Hatcher-Williams’ vocals are softly delivered which creates an atmosphere that allows the melody to stand out even more.
“Soft Blue” hosts the most diverse instrumentation on the album. Starting with a circling of noise effect and percussive clapping, you then hear cymbals crash, drums, more percussion before Hatcher-Williams vocals. But there’s more, including pedal steel, and some programming. The result is a cacophony of noise that is messy at time, intentionally. The melody intermingles with Hatcher-Williams vocal delivery and lyrics mull over present frustrations with hope for righting the ship in the future.
The song, “Empathy” showcases driving guitars and drums to compromise this rocking melody. I love the “whoo” at the very start of the song recording. To me this interjection is used as a declaration on focus and to accomplish the take. The refrain in lyrics absolutely drives the message of the shared human experience home.
“Honey” starts off with some guitar strumming. The string arrangement is glorious. Well-arranged and complimentary to the vocals and rest of the melody. The lyrics reassure the listener about the roof over your head process that is relatable to many even beyond those in the US. Whatever term you call your dwelling, it’s a shared experience and especially comforting when going through it with a partner.
Lamplight gets 4 out of 5 Scum Drops from me. It’s a very good starting point for the artist. A building block to start from. Again, our new album rating system would place this 4 out of 5 Scum Drop album in the 72nd-83rd percentile of all 2024 releases. Not bad at all! For a refresher, read more here. There’s a lot to like in terms of musicianship, arrangement, melody choices and songwriting. I’m looking forward to Hatcher-Williams finding his voice even more in future releases. And seeing what arrangements and lyrics result from that.
Lamplight Track listing (song length)
- Play (3:35)
- Confrontation (4:44)
- Stillness (5:17)
- Lamplight (2:48)
- Call Your Mom (5:00)
- House Rules (3:53)
- Soft Blue (6:17)
- Empathy (6:41)
- Honey (3:33)
Total runtime: 41:48
I’ll always advocate that you take the time to listen to every album in its entirety. This process is usually an hour or less from start to finish. Along the way, you’ll discover your own favorite songs without the influence or bias of others. After a few listens on my own, the songs that are highlighted in green font above are my favorite songs on the album.
The artist’s website with tour info, socials, merch can be found right here!
Thank you for reading and supporting good music.
Until next time,
Alex
Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site: scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions!
Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com
