The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Ghost NationâThey are always different; they are always the same.âAs John Peel once famously said about the Fall, perhaps the same can apply to the Besnard Lakes? Peerlessly consistent, familiar and with a purity of vision and level of quality that is hard to rival in modern music.Except, they are not always the same. Not at all. New album The Besnard Lakes are the Ghost Nation illustrates this perfectly. Yes, the same sound world is present; the keening, lilting vocals of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas foregrounded, but there is a lightness and optimism at play. Perhaps a somewhat disingenuous sense of hope, in a world where it is currently often in short supply.âI feel like it's a very formidable title, symbolic of the times,â says Jace. âIt's talking about the death of nations, the threat of Canada being the 51st state. There is the desire to be left alone, to let community be community, all of those things that feel like they might be under siege; that's what the ghost nation is.âThe band confirm this was partly in response to their last album, 2021âs The Besnard Lakes are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings. âThe last record was so heavy,â reflects Jace. âThere was so much weight and heavy themes, like my dad dying. It was just death everywhere on that record. This album doesn't really seem to be that. To me, it seems very playful.âThe opening track âCalling Ghostly Nationsâ has everything you would want from the band: the opening drone, a slow build with a warped girl group Phil Spector feel, initial vocals from Olga before Jaceâs falsetto arrives. The song takes its time starting and leaving, the outro dissolving into chatter. Lyrically, it considers the history of human progress: âIt's always been something in my mind; are we evolving, or are we devolving as a society ? As much as we move forward, have we forgotten the things that are important because we've moved forward so fast?â. This idea has come up before, going all the way back to âAnd This Is What We Call Progressâ on 2010âs âŚare the Roaring Night.Although there is a sense and acknowledgement of the wider world, the band do not look at it as a âpoliticalâ album: âWe definitely try to keep our politics out of our music, and although this is probably slightly more present, it's still obscure in that we try to keep our lyrics fairly ambiguousâ. A good example of this is the dazed, soothing âChemin de la Baieâ. Underpinned by a wonky arpeggio, the surging chorus is perhaps the most âpopâ they have ever been, again channeling that inbuilt confidence, imploring us to âHold those thoughts and run awayâ. This is followed by âCarried It All Aroundâ, whose clanging, chiming guitars combine with stabs of Mellotron cello. Ideas and images come in and out of focus - âWe were ragged and incompleteâ - leading to a chorus that is reminiscent of Low, the voices combining as one. The final line, âWeâve been lazy for centuries, carried it all aroundâ, harks back to the overarching themes of the album, whilst bringing in online activism and the perception of progress. âWe see people thinking that they're actually doing a lot of good,â adds Jace âbut they are just commenting on things, progressing towards laziness. The footwork is what needs to happen to make things betterâ.During the writing and recording process, the band returned to their âvaultâ of ideas captured from the hard drive constantly recording in their studio (two song skeletons, for âIn Hollywoodâ and âBattle Linesâ even dating back to sessions from âŚare the Roaring Night). âThings that for whatever reason, we couldn't figure out how to finish or didn't think were appropriate for the records. So we went through it, to focus and put these things together, because we know they're good, and a lot of the songs came together really fast.â The rest of the band (drummer Kevin Laing, keyboardist Sheenah Ko and guitarist Gabriel Lambert) were more involved in shaping the recordings: âWe put the arrangements together, but we left things pretty open ended, and then the band went up to Lost River Studio (run by Rebecca Foon, of Esmerine and ex-A Silver Mt. Zion) where we spent five days just fucking around and partying, hanging out with everyoneâs family members there.âOn how they decide who sings which song, or part, Jace admits that âit is usually determined by me and my failure to be inspiredâ, crediting Oggy (Olga) with âsuch a great ear for melody and this incredible way with arrangements if Iâm stumpedâ. Oggy agrees that âit works for us in that sense, that we're able to kind of seesaw off each other when we're putting together the songsâ.The gradual build of âPontiac Spiritsâ is a masterclass of patience and release. Piano flutters for the first two minutes, stuttering like typewriter keys awash with Mellotron flute and brass, a slow climb before the drums finally kick in after five minutes. âI had an idea of it being like a Spiritualized âShine A Lightâ kind of thing, because Lazer Guided Melodies is one of my all time favorite records,â says Jace âand I've always been trying to get there with Besnard Lakes. And so this record, I said, let's try to make it Spiritualized / Spacemen 3 simple.â It also includes the best way to introduce a guitar solo; what sounds like tweeting (or screaming?!) birds, notes strangled from the fretboard.This striving for simplicity is also inherent in âBattle Linesâ, which has a Spoon-like groove about it, the piano setting the pace, providing a rigidity in addition to their usual fluidity, woozy Mellotron whispers dipping in and out. âSometimes there isn't a lot left for anybody else to do,â admits Jace âbecause I get my grubby hands on it and I just fill it up with crap because I'm a maximalist at heart.â On this song they tried to keep the track count down, to realise that âwhen we think we're in a good spot, let's stopâ. The yearning closing refrain - âDonât want to be left without it, don't want to be left without your loveâ - sounds like a stadium singalong that should be echoed by thousands.In a crowded leaderboard of their own making, The Besnard Lakes are the Ghost Nation might just be their best album yet; a strive for hope when it is needed most.Ben JonesMay 2025
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