Ryan's Besnard Lakes Review

The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night is an odd album to listen to. It doesn't really feel like a modern album, and that's something that starts from the cover art – it's an absolutely gorgeous oil painting that would look great on the sleeve of a vinyl record, rather than on a tiny Ipod screen or CD case. That classical aspect of the art is reflected in the material in the album; we've sort of swung back into a new age of the single, as a society, but this album is a holistic piece of art. On my first listen through the album I had to double-check that I was listening to separate tracks, because they all flowed into each other seamlessly. This isn't to say that they all sounded the same, or were repetitive, but rather that each song seems like a movement within a larger composition. It's reminiscent of the golden age of the album that was the late sixties and seventies, in some ways.

At the same time, though, the soundscape being produced here isn't “classical” in any way, despite the lack of modernity. If anything, the opposite is true; the laser-like precision of the instrumentation and sterile environment generated by the lyrics give it a futuristic feel. If David Lynch were making science fiction films set in the far future, this album is very much the kind of thing that would appear on the soundtrack.

That feeling of sterility is what stopped me from being able to get into this album. Listening to it, I felt separated from what was happening lyrically, as if the artists themselves wanted to keep distance between themselves and the material that they're writing about, which only creates a greater distance between the listener and the subject matter.

Ultimately, I can see the merits of this album on an academic level, and I can definitely understand why it would be included on the Polaris shortlist, but it was unable to create any sort of emotional resonance for me.

Gary's Besnard Lakes Review

I’ve glimpsed the future dear friends, and its soundtrack kicks ass. The Besnard Lakes are The Roaring Night is the sonic equivalent of an Arthur C. Clarke novel. From the album’s quivering robotic intro our minds are filled with dystopian futurescapes with shimmering chrome, flashing LED lights and stomping armies of robots. Or at least that’s what I thought of.

The truth is, these songs feel like the future. As if the Beach Boys rocketed forward to the year 2150 and started making gorgeous pop music with our soon-to-be alien overlords. And while the soaring harmonies and haunting falsettos make the Beach Boys a clear touch point, there are definitely more.

Listening to the Besnard Lakes you’ll hear them drawing from sources as diverse as My Bloody Valentine, Polyphonic Spree and yes - even fellow Montrealers Arcade Fire (but who can do chamber pop these days without being compared to them).

But for all its futuristic sounds and Space Odyssey hums, oddly the lyrics never hint at anything more futuristic than a camera. But you get the distinct impression that words are secondary. Maybe not an after-thought - but certainly not the showcase. No, for husband and wife duo Jace Lasek and Olga Gorgeas the beauty is in the writing. These songs aren’t jams but meticulously crafted opuses from start to finish and the stories lie within their melodies.

This isn’t to say there aren’t short comings here and there. At times they fall prey to the shoegazer disease, meandering through songs like a child eating supper (that is to say they take too long) with a few too many songs coming in at a bulky 7 plus minutes. But the good definitely outweighs the bad here and we’re left with extremely beautiful music that soars despite its heft.

My friends, the future is now. The future is The Roaring Night.