Although The Besnard Lakes have been around for over twenty years, this is only their seventh studio long player; but with this kind of quality, it is certainly worth waiting.
The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings was released back in 2021 and although in the interim mainman Jace Lasek has undertaken various production duties, this album really does come with a wave of enthusiasm as he and the band welcome you again into their dream-like world; the soft focus of the production, the ethereal keening voices, it all draws you in with open arms. It might be a little jaded, but there is always hope.
The slow drift of the intro to the title track brings to mind Jace’s work with Light Conductor, but here it is less ruminative, the melancholic vocals real heartstring tuggers as the dreamy tempo and vocal swirl shares its DNA with Julee Cruise. There is a feeling here of sitting on the top of a mountain watching the distant sunburst of a nuclear explosion; the mix of beauty and devastation, yet far enough removed to not be caught up in the aftermath. Olga Goreas and Jace’s voices merge beautifully, with Jace’s falsetto just that little bit more bereft as the song rolls on and on, caught on a wave of blissful texture.
The milky tones summon an oddly diffuse atmosphere on “Chemin De Baie”, the instruments bathed in honey and a sense of remove that they share with early Mercury Rev. It helps you to tap into a world that you wouldn’t normally enter, but is strangely seductive. They seize beauty from wherever they can find it, which these days is quite difficult; but when they do, they shine a golden haze over it. They share this ability with fellow compatriots Broken Social Scene, moving at their own pace, the ecstatic voices always welcoming and questing guitar solos luminous in their intensity.
“Battle Lines” is a slow piano-led bath of melancholy and when they reach the repeated line “I don’t want to be left without your love” it is simply shattering. You just feel the ache and sense of need coming through. It is a highlight amongst an album of highs. The varying of the vocal approaches throughout the album with Jace, Olga and Sheenah Ko taking turns, along with Gabriel Lambert‘s diverse guitar sounds wedded to a rhythm section that subtly ebbs and flows, means that the album never becomes old.
After twenty-odd years, it may well be that The Besnard Lakes have offered their masterpiece just in time to go on everyone’s Christmas list.-Mr Olivetti-
