The Great Lake is the first album in six years from James Mabbett’s Napoleon IIIrd project, and it’s now streaming above in full ahead of its release.
The album, made up of five tracks, was born in part from Mabbett’s move from Yorkshire to London in 2011, subsequently spending a number of years amongst the markedly busier surroundings that the city had to offer before later returning to West Yorkshire.
Having returned to Yorkshire, James set about reconvening his band, and inviting others to contribute to the recording of new music. The album, most interestingly, sees musician Oli Bentley play saxophone, an instrument that Mabbett had a previous aversion to but chose to place at the centre of the new record as a means of challenging himself. The record was recorded over the course of four weeks with the death of Mabbett’s grandparents within the space of one year playing a large role lyrically on the album.
"This record is a celebration of life and of the lives of those you love," he says of the album. "It is a record about hope and it is a record about loss. I wish that it could mean as much to others as it does to me and then in some way help us all to live without fear."
The Great Lake is out on May 19 and will be launched on May 24 as part of Holmfirth Film Festival. For more details on that show, head here.
