Having been featured on “Ones To Watch” lists for over two years now, it’s safe to say that Childhood‘s debut album has been a lengthily anticipated one. The band have landed support slots with Temples and Johnny Marr, as well as headlining their own jaunts across the UK, and if that doesn’t speak volumes enough on it’s own, then Lacuna will. With the release of their debut record, the London four-piece are showcasing a spirited maturity beyond anyones expectations.

Debut single ‘Blue Velvet’ acts as the perfect album opener. The breezy refrains and bubbling riffs that began capturing affections towards the end of 2012 are every bit as vibrant and entrancing as when we first heard them. Ben Romans-Hopcraft’s vocals mesmerise more than ever, whilst Leo Dobsen’s guitar reverberates with a kaleidoscopic potency that prove even harder to resist. Upcoming single ‘As I Am’ might lack the vivacious feel of the bands first track, but it’s no less infectious. The song drifts with effortless charm around a chorus that all but radiates with the heat of a summer evening. Reverb coated vocals act as a perfectly cool breeze alongside scorching guitar refrains, urging with the listener to “take me as I am.”

‘Right Beneath Me’ ripples into existence with a flourishing intensity, stretching to delicate heights every time the chorus hits. Swimming through your consciousness like a half-remembered dream, it’s about this point in Lacuna that you’ll realise just how far you’ve let Childhood under your skin. ‘Falls Away’ twirls and tumbles, graceful elegance meeting uptempo rhythms in a delicious melding of worlds and sounds.

It’s ‘Sweeter Preacher’ that showcases the band at their most radiant. Soaring to the point you’ll almost feel you could take flight, the track’s blissful melodies and gleaming guitars craft the perfect escape – whisking you away to somewhere else completely. ‘Solemn Skies’ is another highlight. Instantly anthemic, the tracks resounding chorus and spiralling riffs build towards an intricate instrumental reaffirming enough to have even the sternest in a reckless abandon. Because that’s what Childhood do best: Lacuna is not something lost, but a gap, an open space, an opportunity, flooded by a tapestry of sound so rich that you might not need feel lacking again.

‘Pay For Cool’ ricochets up the tempo, electric fills and ceaseless riffs echoing mid-2000s indie rock. But it’s closing track ‘When You Rise’ that really leaves a lasting impression. Mirroring 60s psych, the song’s broadly sprawling riffs and reverb doused vocals build up to an epic sweeping instrumental, which draws the album to a euphoric close.

Combining laid-back psychedelic sensibilities with squalling rock refrains, in Lacuna Childhood have crafted something unique. The record practically lives and breathes between every spaced out drum beat and hazy vocal sigh, swelling to heights that will leave you floored. So what are you waiting for?

Lacuna is released on 11th August via Marathon Artists

Jessica Goodman
@alotlikejessica