This is the second album from husband and wife team Farrah & Richard West, Now Richard is a familiar name to us all, having graced the HLC stage as part of Threshold amongst others. League of Lights – the electronic rock/synth pop duo featuring couple Farrah and Richard West. They released their debut album in 2011.

Simply entitled League of Lights, the album fused elements of pop, rock and metal into their own unique blend. “We come from very different musical backgrounds,” says Richard, “and League of Lights is all about where we meet in the middle. It couldn’t exist without both of us”.

Now, their second album In the in Between was released on September 27th this year. “It’s been a long journey to get here,” says Farrah. “From the day we recorded our first song together we’ve been working towards creating something that combines the heart of who we are. We’re really proud to have reached this point on our journey “. As Richard say’s earlier this is the mix of his and Farrah’s styles, and if you’re expecting Threshold with female vocals you’re in the wrong place, this is very much a collaboration, and one that is very much a mix of rock, progressive elements and incredibly sophisticated electro pop.

From the get go, Farrah’s vocals are sublime, incredibly versatile whether it’s on the heavy opener Shockwave, which is dense with Richards trademark keyboard sound, or the incredibly beautiful title track.

There is such a lot going on throughout this incredibly rich and intelligent album over the 14 diverse tracks, that whilst varying in style are all held together by the purity and power in Farrah’s voice. I admit to being a bad person and having totally missed the first League of Lights album (a mistake I will be rectifying) and one thing that strikes me on here is the quality of the music throughout, there are pletny of the heavy touches reminiscent of Richards Threshold work, particularly on the wonderfully driving Spectrometer which has radio play written all over, whilst his wonderful soundscapes and trademark piano work provide the perfect backdrop for Farrah to soar all over, like on the wonderful Fox, with it’s superb lyrics, and Farrah’s faultless delivery, with some dynamic orchestration to provide the build up to the climactic chorus.

Down Down is another cracking track, with a wonderfully catchy chorus, and some sublime musicianship, whilst Farrah’s voice is perfect for the lyrics, and the whole production is chock full of the perfect blend of rock and pop sensibilities. Strong Enough again is full of that power, a blend of Farrah’s crystal clear vocals, and Richards musical skills, again, if this was picked up by the right places I could hear this all over Radio 2, it is perfect tbh, such great songwriting, production and vocals, you get so much from each track every time you have a listen. There’s the wonderfully catchy Kings and Queens, the lead single, whilst the album ends on the beautifully poignant Promises and Dreams, with it’s beautifully heartfelt lyrics, and the sympathetic musical accompaniement brings this sublime album to a close.

I knew that anything featuring Richard West would be good, but what makes this an amazing record, and one of the year is the sheer beauty of Farrahs voice throughout, this is one of those perfect musical and personal partnerships like Kami Thompson and James Walbourne of the Rails, where the synchornicity of the two come together and create sublime art. The music that comes from In the in between, the gaps where the light gets in, is absolutely wonderful,and this is one of the albums of 2019, and an absolutely wonderful piece of musical art.