Fred Deakin's new album, The Lasters, tells the story of Earth's last remaining inhabitants as they search for a new home amidst climate crisis and nuclear war. In a musical first for the former Lemon Jelly producer, Deakin works with ex-Ash member Charlotte Hatherley as well as newcomers Abi Sinclair and Steffan Huw Davies...

Set in a dystopian near future where climate crisis and a nuclear holocaust has brought Earth to the brink of extinction, The Lasters tells the story of a young woman who watches as her home planet, family and friends are destroyed in front of her eyes.

While parallels are bound to be drawn between this and both The Who's Quadrophenia and Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds, The Lasters is more of a musical and has the added benefit of being an original story. To be honest, while I did enjoy The War of the Worlds, I never understood why people raved about it. It's unusual and well produced, but musically it's pretty average (Ooo! Controversial).

There are a number of pretty strong and memorable songs on The Lasters, including 'Alone', 'I Remember', 'Future Magic'. 'Bringing It Back To You', 'The End Of The World' and Just Our Best'.

While some of the acting is pretty questionable and there's the occasional iffy vocal, I really loved this production. The story is engaging and the music is diverse and catchy. As concept albums go, they don't come much better than this.

9

Darren Rea