Hidden Drives, Released June 4, 2021, on Badman Recording Co.
Lanterna is the long-term primary outlet of Henry Frayne, a musician who specializes in atmospheric and expressive instrumentals that evoke solitary drives and strolls through virtually all forms of roadways and landscapes. An underground music veteran, Frayne began recording as Lanterna in the early '90s as a diversion from his band activity. The self-released cassette Lanterna (1992), a debut given wider distribution in multiple forms through the end of the decade, led to increased Lanterna activity throughout the 2000s with four additional distinctive albums ranging from Elm Street (2001) to Desert Ocean (2006). Since then, Frayne has added to his discography with Backyards (2015) and Hidden Drives (2021). All Lanterna albums from the second LP onward have been issued through Badman Recording Co.
Frayne's past dates back to the early '80s with membership in a number of Champagne, Illinois-based bands inspired by new wave and post-punk. These included Lodestone Destiny, the Syndicate, ¡Ack-Ack!, and the longer-running Area. Frayne and Area mate Lynn Canfield had just established the dream pop band the Moon Seven Times when, in 1991, Frayne started recording the material that became Lanterna's self-titled debut. Although it was essentially a solo side project, Frayne -- a guitarist, keyboardist, composer, and producer -- was assisted by a small cast that included Canfield as a co-writer and Brendan Gamble, also of the Moon Seven Times, on drums. Lanterna was self-released in 1992 as a limited-edition cassette with 23 tracks. A selection of that material was issued in Greece that year as the vinyl-only Of Shapes That Haunt Thought's Wilderness. Three years later, the Parasol label put together a 17-track CD edition with art and design by Independent Project Records' Bruce Licher. Finally, after the arrival of the last Moon Seven Times LP and the Live Recordings split EP shared by Lanterna and the Licher-led Scenic, Rykodisc reissued the 17-track version in 1998. Frayne throughout the latter half of the '90s also branched out with session work both local and abroad, heard on albums by Laurie McColley, Angie Heaton, and Leslie Nuss, as well as projects produced by Hector Zazou for the Passions' Barbara Gogan and Tibetan singer/songwriter Yungchen Lhamo.
Around the turn of the decade, engineer/producer and Badman Recording Co. label head Dylan Magierek fell under the spell of Lanterna and instigated a lasting affiliation with Frayne. This resulted in a particularly fertile period that yielded Elm Street in 2001 and Sands in 2002, followed by Highways and Desert Ocean, released, respectively, in 2004 and 2006. Frayne was helped most prominently by Mike Brosco on production, electronics, and effects, and by Eric Gebow on drums. During this period and extending into 2010, Frayne strengthened his connection to Greece with eight visits to the country for Lanterna gigs, and he also started working on the sixth album, Backyards, which landed in 2015. Six years passed before Hidden Drives, yet that album drew from a pool of ideas and sketches Frayne started building around the time of Lanterna's inception.
Bio by Andy Kellman
