L.Y.R. - Dark Sky Reservation

Release Date:	03/04/2026
Format:	LP Cream/ CD
Label:	Real World
Catalogue Number:	LPRW270/ CDRW270

The new album by L.Y.R., their third commercial release, begins with the idea that the furthest points of light - stars - can only be seen in the dark. It’s a kind of contradiction that finds musical expression in these new tracks, the band always navigating towards sightings of hopefulness and constancy in an increasingly bewildering and storm-battered world.

The term ‘dark sky reservation’ has its origins in environmentalism and several tracks on the album deal with the messed-up weather of our contemporary planet, both meteorological and psychological, from descriptions of an earth deluged by thunderstorms to the soggy back gardens of suburbia, a climate crisis brought on by rampant urbanism. In that context, dark sky reservations are those regions of the
landscape where light pollution is discouraged and even outlawed, to allow scientists and casual stargazers to peer into the cosmos and see the glory of the constellations, patterns of light that have entranced and mystified us for hundreds of thousands of years.

It’s from those designated zones that human beings get a sense of their place in the universe and experience the wonder of the here and now against a context of eternity and infinity. An alternative to the hectic craziness of everyday life, so often virtual and synthetic, the dark sky reservation is a place of refuge and dreaming, and like L.Y.R.’s music, such spaces are earmarked for contemplation and thoughtfulness. 

 L.Y.R. are author and current British poet laureate Simon Armitage, singer songwriter Richard Walters and multi-instrumentalist and producer Patrick Pearson.

Available on CD and Cream coloured vinyl LP. 

Tracklist:

Dark Sky Reservation
A Walled Garden
Blah! Blah! Blah!
Pray Silence
Where Have You Been All My Life?
French Cursive
Guernica Jigsaw
Eclipse
The Goldilocks Zone
Sirius Alpha, Sirius Beta
Under Artificial Lighting
Collared Dove