Families Release Posthumous Viola Beach Album

The debut album from Viola Beach has been posthumously released, five months after the band were killed in a car crash in Sweden.

Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin all died with their manager Craig Tarry when their car plunged 25 metres off a bridge into a canal in Sodertalje, 18 miles from Stockholm .

The Warrington group had played a gig at a festival in Norrkoping, Sweden, the previous night and were on their way back to the UK at the time of the crash.

News of the tragedy sent the band's debut single, Swings & Waterslides, to the top of the iTunes chart.

The song features on Viola Beach's self-titled album, which is made up nine tracks.

In a statement the families of the band said: "We are tremendously proud of everything the boys achieved in such a short space of time.

"Craig, Jack, Kris, River and Tom shared a huge passion, talent and dedication to music.

"We believe the best way to celebrate our sons' lives is to release an album of their songs.

"This is their legacy and we know deep in our hearts that the boys would want the world to listen to the music they poured everything into."

They added: "We hope that it brings you as much happiness listening to it as we know it did to them making it."

River's brother, Fin Reeves, said the songs on the album were about living life to the full.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: "That's the feeling they were trying to get across and that's what they were doing.

"We have done everything we can to get their creativity and their ideas into the album.

"We have done our best to have it how they would have wanted."

Police investigating the Viola Beach crash said they believe that the band died in an "accident" .

The driver did not intend to kill himself or the band, detectives said.

Police investigator Lars Berglund told Sky News: "We think it was an accident and was unfortunate circumstances."