Up at the Lake is the eighth album by the British alternative rock band The Charlatans, released on 17 May 2004 through Universal and Island Records Group.

At the end of the year, the band reconvened to write songs; by March 2003, they relocated to their own studio, Big Mushroom, in Cheshire, Greater Manchester, with them and James Spencer serving as producers.

"Up at the Lake" was released as the album's lead single in May 2004, which was promoted with a tour of the UK and appearances at the Isle of Wight and T in the Park festivals until the following month.

[4] After supporting Stereophonics at Slane Castle in Dublin, Ireland, in August 2002, the Charlatans played three club shows to end the month.

[5] Universal wanted a follow-up quickly, threatening the band with dropping them from the roster if they did not work on one; frontman Tim Burgess was not happy with the situation.

[8] A few days later, the band denied rumours that they would be splitting up but mentioned that the other members worked with different artists: drummer Jon Brookes with Preacher Man and keyboardist Tony Rogers with Moco.

[9] In December 2002, the band started writing new songs;[10] guitarist Mark Collins subsequently visited Burgess in February 2003 at his home in Los Angeles, California, where the pair worked for three weeks, finishing four tracks in the process.

[13] In March 2003, the band relocated to their own studio,[14] Big Mushroom, in Cheshire, Greater Manchester, with them and engineer James Spencer serving as producers.

[17] While this was occurring, the band held a warm-up show in London prior to their appearances at the Move and T in the Park festivals in July 2003.

[22] Linus of Hollywood recorded Burgess' vocals for "Try Again Today"; Mike Cave did additional engineering on it,[15] as Blunt thought the song sounded a bit overproduced.

Cokemachineglow writer David M. Goldstein explained that Up at the Lake had the "same hazy, guitar-centered production, and an emphasis on la-di-da country-rockers evoking the [Rolling] Stones at their late '60s/early '70s peak" as Tellin' Stories.

[2] AllMusic reviewer Jason Damas wrote that the "classic-rock coloring that dominated discs" such as the band's self-titled (1995) and Tellin' Stories albums return, in addition to "brief flirtations with classic folk".

[28] The opening track, "Up at the Lake", is a British traditional rock song;[25] its first line is adapted from "Loose Fit" (1990) by former contemporaries Happy Mondays.

[15] "Bona Fide Treasure" is done in the style of Electric Light Orchestra, while "High Up Your Tree" was compared to Ween, specifically on their album White Pepper (2000).

[54] In May and June 2004, the band embarked on a tour of the UK,[55] leading up to appearances at the Isle of Wight,[56] T in the Park,[57] and Fleadh festivals.

[66] In April 2005, the band's second video album, Live at Last Brixton Academy, was released, consisting of footage from the December 2004 tour.

[68] "Up at the Lake" and "Try Again Today" were featured on the band's third compilation album, Forever: The Singles (2006),[69] while four demos from the sessions were included on the special edition version of it.

"[25] Goldstein said it was "surprisingly their strongest effort" since Tellin' Stories, agreeing with Damas that they "actually sound[ed] relaxed," making it the type of album that the band could compose in their sleep.

[2] The Independent critic Andy Gill was also impressed, saying that the "relatively simple and direct Up at the Lake is a surprise", adding that it was the "most focused, coherent and unmediated that the band have sounded in years.

[74] The staff at Uncut said it was "hardly the album-length E-rush of career peak Tellin' Stories (1997),"[39] while Stephen Ackroyd of This Is Fake DIY said the band "[c]ould do worse, [or] could do a lot better.

"[77] RTÉ.ie writer Seamus Leonard said "unfortunately the songs are pretty inconsistent", with "Cry Yourself to Sleep" and "I'll Sing a Hymn (You Came to Me)" being "well worth listening to, but [...] [t]he rest are reasonable but unremarkable.

[27] Playlouder writer Richard Smirke said the album "plays more like Burgess & Co hijacking Stars in Their Eyes, rather than a band trying to sound fresh or relevant in their fifteenth year.

[3] All songs by Martin Blunt, Jon Brookes, Tim Burgess, Mark Collins, and Tony Rogers, except "Try Again Today" by the band and Linus of Hollywood.