Great Lake Swimmers - A Forest of Arms (2015) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Canadian indie darlings Great Lake Swimmers will release their sixth album, A Forest Of Arms, on April 20, 2015 via Nettwerk Records. With a surging rhythm section, razor sharp violin, and flourishing banjo and guitars, Tony Dekker and his band mates have created some of their most dynamic songs to date. As with past Great Lake Swimmers albums, A Forest Of Arms was recorded in several locations over the span of several months, covering extensive new territory while remaining true to the groups refined sound. One of these unique and unusual locations was the Tyendinaga Cavern and Caves in Tyendinaga, Ontario. A number of the vocal and acoustic guitar tracks were recorded amid the haunting acoustics, stalactites, and circling bats in the caves. A Forest Of Arms was recorded and engineered by their long time live sound technician Justin Shane Nace and was mixed by the talented Howie Beck (Feist). Great Lake Swimmers consists of Dekker on lead vocals and guitar, long time guitarist and banjo player Erik Arnesen, Miranda Mulholland on violin and backing vocals, Bret Higgins on upright bass and newcomer Joshua Van Tassel on drums. There are also several special guest appearances on the album by Kevin Kane (Grapes Of Wrath). The band has already announced a Canadian tour in support of the release and will follow with European dates later in the year!

„While he writes lovely melodies and has a fine voice, Tony Dekker of the Great Lake Swimmers often sounds dour enough that one could imagine he'd like to hide in a cave for a while. And for the group's sixth studio album, 2015's A Forest of Arms, Dekker did just that; his vocals and acoustic guitars were recorded in Ontario's Tyendinaga Caverns and Caves, one of the oldest natural caverns in Canada, while the rest of the instruments were tracked in a variety of studios, performance venues, and resonant rooms in unlikely locales. While it's difficult to say how much impact Tyendinaga made on the final product, it certainly testifies to the group's willingness to experiment. And in a band where mood plays a major role, doing your vocals in a cave probably does make a difference, and the cool but emotionally taut tone of A Forest of Arms' 12 tunes is genuinely powerful, as the wheatfield textures of Dekker's voice blend with the faraway cry of Miranda Mulholland's violin and the well-worn bark of Erik Arnesen's banjo and electric guitar. A Forest of Arms evokes the feeling of a Sunday afternoon in a rural community as the cool, decisive snap of autumn is in the air, at once beautiful and laced with sad inevitability, and though the Great Lake Swimmers don't clear out much new stylistic or thematic ground on this album, it's still a welcome reminder of what they do so well. (And "I Must Have Someone Else's Blues" shows Dekker does have a sense of humor.) From the lonesome drift of the melodies and the brilliantly rendered dynamics of the performances to the uncluttered detail of the production (by engineer Justin Shane Nace in collaboration with the group), this is a splendid mood piece that excels in concept and execution.“ (Mark Deming, AMG)



Tracklist:
01. Something Like a Storm
02. Zero in the City
03. Shaking All Over
04. Don't Leave Me Hanging
05. One More Charge at the Red Cape
06. I Was a Wayward Pastel Bay
07. A Bird Flew Inside the House
08. A Jukebox in a Desert of Snow
09. I Must Have Someone Else's Blues
10. The Great Bear
11. With Every Departure
12. Expecting You
13. Talking in Your Sleep (Bonus Track)

Personnel:
Tony Dekker, vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, ukulele
Erik Arnesen, electric guitar, banjo
Bret Higgins, mandolin, piano, Wurlitzer piano, upright bass, electric bass, claves
Miranda Mulholland, violin, background vocals
Joshua Van Tassell, drums, percussion