The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night
by The Besnard Lakes
LABEL: Jajaguwar

Full of atmospheric crescendos, and chords so thick they seem to stick in the air, The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night is the album The Besnard Lakes have been trying to make since they first formed. Epic, expansive, deliberate— ...Roaring Night avoids all the pitfalls and missteps of their earlier releases, and sees the band refine their sound to perfection.

Headed by husband and wife pair Jace Laseka and Olga Goreas, who trade vocals and ethereal, upper-octave harmonies, The Besnard Lakes is part of that fine Canadian tradition of incestuous collaboration—though maybe not a musical orgy on the level of Broken Social Scene, they’ve worked with members of bands as broad ranging as Stars to Godspeed! You Black Emperor.

“There is simply no one else I can think of making music like this anymore, certainly not with this much skill and grandiosity.”

The latter probably made an impression—though the Besnards have always dabbled in shoe gaze and heavy atmospherics, on ...Roaring Night they use droning tones and orchestral walls of sound to build tension and elevate what might otherwise be straightforward rock songs into the stratosphere.

Even amidst the ever present swirling feedback, there’s a good variety on the album. It’s book-ended by two mini epics, the slow-building "Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent," and “Light Up The Night,” which wouldn’t feel out of place next to Supertramp’s “Oh Lord, Is It Mine”—but there's also room for the more constrained songs, like bass-riff driven “And This is What We Call Progress,” and “Albatross,” which is seemingly built around one masterfully explosive moment.

Ultimately, ...Roaring Night represents a big triumph for The Besnard Lakes. There is simply no one else I can think of making music like this anymore, certainly not with this much skill and grandiosity. It’s great to see a band that’s been flittering on the edges of fully arriving, finally do so.


REVIEWED BY MAT LINDENBERG
MAT’S FAVORITE TRACKS: “Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent Pt. 2: The Innocent”  • “And This Is What We Call Progress” • “Chicago Train”

The Besnard Lakes, "And This Is What We Call Progress" from Steve Rogovin on Vimeo.

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