Sound check · Glasgow−∞−48−36−24−18−12−9−6−3−10dB
NIGHT FERRY
Levels up
Release
«Lanterns» is out
The first song from the new record, written on the last ferry back from Dunoon. What it is about, and why it almost was not on the album.
- KindRelease
- Date29 Aug 2026
- Read4 min
Release
«Lanterns» is out
The first song from the new record, written on the last ferry back from Dunoon. What it is about, and why it almost was not on the album.
- KindRelease
- Date29 Aug 2026
- Read4 min
Release
«Lanterns» is out
The first song from the new record, written on the last ferry back from Dunoon. What it is about, and why it almost was not on the album.
- KindRelease
- Date29 Aug 2026
- Read4 min
Our new single, «Lanterns», is out today: the first song anyone outside the band has heard from Harbour Lights. It is also the song that very nearly did not make the record.
The ferry back from Dunoon
I wrote the first verse on the last boat back from Dunoon in March, on my phone, in the bit of the deck where the wind does not reach. It was dark by four. The only lights were the ones along the shore at Gourock and Greenock, and the little lamp on the rail of every boat we passed, each one looking like somebody waiting up. That picture is the whole song: people keeping a light on for someone who is late.
The tune came later, in Jude's flat, on a keyboard with two broken keys. You can still hear where the melody steps around them.
CH 0 · Cue“The only lights were the ones along the shore, each one looking like somebody waiting up.
Why it almost was not on the album
In Leith we played it every single day and every single day it was wrong. Too fast, then too polite, then too loud. On day seven we nearly cut it. Ama said we were playing it like a single, which is the worst thing anyone can say to a song. So we stopped trying. Callum took the snare off the kit, I sat down instead of standing, and we played it once at the end of the night, half to ourselves. That is the take you can stream now. The cough at 2:51 is me.
What is in it
- Ezra: voice, the old Harmony guitar with the tape on the neck.
- Ama: bass, the high harmony in the last chorus.
- Callum: floor tom, brushes, a tambourine on the off-beat that he denies playing.
- Jude: the Wurlitzer, and the organ swell that comes in under the bridge.
It runs 3:48. We kept the fade-out short because on the boat the lights do not fade, they just disappear behind the headland, one after another.
Where to hear it
"Lanterns" is on every platform today. The video, shot on the same crossing in one take at dusk, is on the video page. The album follows on 07 November on Lowwater Records, and the first time we play the song in front of people will be the launch at Barrow Hall in Glasgow.
If you play it on a train, or a bus, or a late boat somewhere, tell us. That is where it was made to be heard.
— Ezra
Our new single, «Lanterns», is out today: the first song anyone outside the band has heard from Harbour Lights. It is also the song that very nearly did not make the record.
The ferry back from Dunoon
I wrote the first verse on the last boat back from Dunoon in March, on my phone, in the bit of the deck where the wind does not reach. It was dark by four. The only lights were the ones along the shore at Gourock and Greenock, and the little lamp on the rail of every boat we passed, each one looking like somebody waiting up. That picture is the whole song: people keeping a light on for someone who is late.
The tune came later, in Jude's flat, on a keyboard with two broken keys. You can still hear where the melody steps around them.
CH 0 · Cue“The only lights were the ones along the shore, each one looking like somebody waiting up.
Why it almost was not on the album
In Leith we played it every single day and every single day it was wrong. Too fast, then too polite, then too loud. On day seven we nearly cut it. Ama said we were playing it like a single, which is the worst thing anyone can say to a song. So we stopped trying. Callum took the snare off the kit, I sat down instead of standing, and we played it once at the end of the night, half to ourselves. That is the take you can stream now. The cough at 2:51 is me.
What is in it
- Ezra: voice, the old Harmony guitar with the tape on the neck.
- Ama: bass, the high harmony in the last chorus.
- Callum: floor tom, brushes, a tambourine on the off-beat that he denies playing.
- Jude: the Wurlitzer, and the organ swell that comes in under the bridge.
It runs 3:48. We kept the fade-out short because on the boat the lights do not fade, they just disappear behind the headland, one after another.
Where to hear it
"Lanterns" is on every platform today. The video, shot on the same crossing in one take at dusk, is on the video page. The album follows on 07 November on Lowwater Records, and the first time we play the song in front of people will be the launch at Barrow Hall in Glasgow.
If you play it on a train, or a bus, or a late boat somewhere, tell us. That is where it was made to be heard.
— Ezra
Our new single, «Lanterns», is out today: the first song anyone outside the band has heard from Harbour Lights. It is also the song that very nearly did not make the record.
The ferry back from Dunoon
I wrote the first verse on the last boat back from Dunoon in March, on my phone, in the bit of the deck where the wind does not reach. It was dark by four. The only lights were the ones along the shore at Gourock and Greenock, and the little lamp on the rail of every boat we passed, each one looking like somebody waiting up. That picture is the whole song: people keeping a light on for someone who is late.
The tune came later, in Jude's flat, on a keyboard with two broken keys. You can still hear where the melody steps around them.
CH 0 · Cue“The only lights were the ones along the shore, each one looking like somebody waiting up.
Why it almost was not on the album
In Leith we played it every single day and every single day it was wrong. Too fast, then too polite, then too loud. On day seven we nearly cut it. Ama said we were playing it like a single, which is the worst thing anyone can say to a song. So we stopped trying. Callum took the snare off the kit, I sat down instead of standing, and we played it once at the end of the night, half to ourselves. That is the take you can stream now. The cough at 2:51 is me.
What is in it
- Ezra: voice, the old Harmony guitar with the tape on the neck.
- Ama: bass, the high harmony in the last chorus.
- Callum: floor tom, brushes, a tambourine on the off-beat that he denies playing.
- Jude: the Wurlitzer, and the organ swell that comes in under the bridge.
It runs 3:48. We kept the fade-out short because on the boat the lights do not fade, they just disappear behind the headland, one after another.
Where to hear it
"Lanterns" is on every platform today. The video, shot on the same crossing in one take at dusk, is on the video page. The album follows on 07 November on Lowwater Records, and the first time we play the song in front of people will be the launch at Barrow Hall in Glasgow.
If you play it on a train, or a bus, or a late boat somewhere, tell us. That is where it was made to be heard.
— Ezra