Album Review
Luke James Williams – Limes Hotel
Limes Hotel is the second album from Cambridge based indie-folk artist Luke James Williams, coming almost four years after his debut. It is a modern sounding album, although clearly based on traditional English folk roots, and the songwriting is raw and emotional. Many of the songs were written following the loss of two friends, and the themes of grief and mortality are clear.
There is some variety in the music across the albums eleven tracks. The string arrangement that backs Saints In The Trees, the haunting Full Moon and the rustle of leaves and faltering guitar part on the autumnal Seeds all have very different sonic textures. Strange Things We Are uses a more strident tone, while Ends features delicate guitar picking.
Village Green is the album’s centrepiece, a slow song clearly rooted in tragedy, but also examining the rumours that can circulate as attempts are made to understand the inexplicable. It’s a well written and emotional track and brings the album’s core themes together. The closing Hollows And Branches, written as a tribute, attempts to achieve some closure and to move forward with memories rather than sadness.
Overall, Limes Hotel is an expressive and well constructed album. The raw emotions evoked by many of its tracks are almost uncomfortable to hear, yet it feels as if they had to be brought to light. While this will be seen very much as a folk album, it deserves a wider audience.
Label: self
Release date: 17 April 2026