Monday 12 July 2010



Polaris ’10 Shortlist: The Besnard Lakes
The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night

Back in March, as I was sitting down to write my initial review of The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, I had just heard the news that Mark Linkous had taken his own life.  Immediately I was struck by the parallels between the new Besnard Lakes album and Linkous’ last official release, his collaboration with Danger Mouse, Dark Night of the Soul (which, incidentally gets it’s proper physical release tomorrow).  “Whether dark or roaring,” I wrote, “both albums seem to exist in shadowy crevices and alleyways, their songs emitting the only bright light to guide the listener through a midnight maze.”  I went on to refer to the third Besnard Lakes album as more “loom and boom” than “gloom and doom”, an assessment that I still think stands true.

The Besnard Lakes have never been the kind of band to hurry to the hook, eschewing 3 minute pop perfection for the slow-building barnstorm burner.  “Glass Printer”, the album’s shortest song (not including the two instrumental intros) at 3:54 is, oddly enough, one of it’s best in my opinion, mostly because it’s limited time frame means that it’s a tighter, succinct distillation of the rest of the album.  It doesn’t sacrifice any of the building tension the longer songs rely on for momentum; if anything it’s the only track on the disc that leaves me as a listener wanting more once it’s over.  That’s a very different reaction than the one I had when I first heard “Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent” parts 1 and 2 (essentially the album’s opening number), after which I felt like I had just experienced a whole album’s worth of material in just one song.  These longer jams might veer into overkill territory in lesser hands, but Lace Jasek is a songwriter of skill.  His use of repetition builds the walls of sound, the thundering foundation that supports the record.  He’s not taking a three minute song and stretching it to eight so that he can get a couple of wicked solos in to stroke his ego.  If that were the case, this record wouldn’t have made it past first inspection.

I’ve heard some people say that Jasek’s signature falsetto and Olaga Goreas’ velvety voice are too low in the mix to make out what they’re saying, but for me, that’s a plus.  It’s not that the lyrics don’t mean anything to me, it’s that their voices then become an instrument, and part of the music, as opposed to being a distraction over top of it.  In the end, it doesn’t matter what they’re singing so much as how they sing it.  Both Jasek and Goreas know how to convey emotion and soul in their vocal performances with just their god-given instrument.  They could be singing recipes for french pastries for all I care, just so long as they continue to sing it from the depths of their soul.

The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night is the kind of album I like to listen to late at night, in the moments between being awake and sleep.  I easily get lost in its wash of sound, lulled into relaxation by Jasek’s “ahhhs” and Goreas’ “ooohs”, ready to board the last train to Chicago where spies fall in love at midnight.  In the blinking light of day, …The Roaring Night doesn’t lose any of its power, though: “And This Is What We Call Progress” and “Albatross” have me air-guitaring  like the talentless wannbe rock star I am.  Ultimately, The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night is the kind of album that can–as the name of it’s penultimate song attests–”Light Up The Night” and the day in equal measure.

The Besanrd Lakes Are The Roaring Night was released March 9, 2010 on Outside Music.

MP3: The Besnard Lakes “Albatross”
Video: The Besnard Lakes “Albatross”
Myspace: The Besnard Lakes





by J. Di Gioia | Comments Off

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