Lanterna is the project led by guitarist Henry Faye, formerly of Ack-Ack, Area, and The Moon Seven Times. The project’s music consists of evocative soundscapes and instrumentals that focus on Frayne’s melodic guitar work awash in effects. The Lanterna project will see its newest release, the full-length LP Backyards, this coming February.
The first material released under the name Lanterna was a collaboration between Frayne, drummer Brendan Gamble and vocalist Lynn Canfield which the band self-released in 1992. Some of these tracks reappeared later that year on the Greek vinyl-only, Elfish label release Of Shapes That Haunt Thought’s Wilderness. The recordings were re-released on both Parasol Records and Rykodisc in 1995 and 1998, respectively. The Rykodisc version led off with the song “Silent Hills.” The track later appeared on the first disc of National Public Radio’s “All Songs Considered” CD series, which collected songs used as interstitial music during All Things Considered. Four albums followed on Badman/Jemez Mountain.
Frayne says to PopMatters about the tune, “‘Backyards’ was written on a acoustic guitar, humming the melody that would become the twangy guitar part. Behind most of the songs on Backyards, the album, is an acoustic guitar part written while sitting outside in the open air with a hummed melody later replaced by echoey guitars.”
Stream the title track of Backyards below:
Backyards is out on 17 February via Badman Recording Co.