The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Ghost Nation “They are always different; they are always the same.” As John Peel once famously said about the Fall, perhaps the same can apply to the Besnard Lakes? Peerlessly consistent, familiar and with a purity of vision and level of quality that is hard to rival in modern music. Except, they are not always the same. Not at all. New album The Besnard Lakes are the Ghost Nation illustrates this perfectly. Yes, the same sound world is present; the keening, lilting vocals of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas foregrounded, but there is a lightness and optimism at play. Perhaps a somewhat disingenuous sense of hope, in a world where it is currently often in short supply. “I feel like it's a very formidable title, symbolic of the times,” says Jace. “It's talking about the death of nations, the threat of Canada being the 51st state. There is the desire to be left alone, to let community be community, all of those things that feel like they might be under siege; that's what the ghost nation is.” The band confirm this was partly in response to their last album, 2021’s The Besnard Lakes are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings. “The last record was so heavy,” reflects Jace. “There was so much weight and heavy themes, like my dad dying. It was just death everywhere on that record. This album doesn't really seem to be that. To me, it seems very playful.” The opening track ‘Calling Ghostly Nations’ has everything you would want from the band: the opening drone, a slow build with a warped girl group Phil Spector feel, initial vocals from Olga before Jace’s falsetto arrives. The song takes its time starting and leaving, the outro dissolving into chatter. Lyrically, it considers the history of human progress: “It's always been something in my mind; are we evolving, or are we devolving as a society ? As much as we move forward, have we forgotten the things that are important because we've moved forward so fast?”. This idea has come up before, going all the way back to ‘And This Is What We Call Progress’ on 2010’s …are the Roaring Night. Although there is a sense and acknowledgement of the wider world, the band do not look at it as a ‘political’ album: “We definitely try to keep our politics out of our music, and although this is probably slightly more present, it's still obscure in that we try to keep our lyrics fairly ambiguous”. A good example of this is the dazed, soothing ‘Chemin de la Baie’. Underpinned by a wonky arpeggio, the surging chorus is perhaps the most ‘pop’ they have ever been, again channeling that inbuilt confidence, imploring us to “Hold those thoughts and run away”.&nbsp; This is followed by ‘Carried It All Around’, whose clanging, chiming guitars combine with stabs of Mellotron cello. Ideas and images come in and out of focus - “We were ragged and incomplete” - leading to a chorus that is reminiscent of Low, the voices combining as one. The final line, “We’ve been lazy for centuries, carried it all around”, harks back to the overarching themes of the album, whilst bringing in online activism and the perception of progress. “We see people thinking that they're actually doing a lot of good,” adds Jace “but they are just commenting on things, progressing towards laziness. The footwork is what needs to happen to make things better”. During the writing and recording process, the band returned to their “vault” of ideas captured from the hard drive constantly recording in their studio (two song skeletons, for ‘In Hollywood’ and ‘Battle Lines’ even dating back to sessions from …are the Roaring Night). “Things that for whatever reason, we couldn't figure out how to finish or didn't think were appropriate for the records. So we went through it, to focus and put these things together, because we know they're good, and a lot of the songs came together really fast.” The rest of the band (drummer Kevin Laing, keyboardist Sheenah Ko and guitarist Gabriel Lambert) were more involved in shaping the recordings: “We put the arrangements together, but we left things pretty open ended, and then the band went up to Lost River Studio (run by Rebecca Foon, of Esmerine and ex-A Silver Mt. Zion) where we spent five days just fucking around and partying, hanging out with everyone’s family members there.” On how they decide who sings which song, or part, Jace admits that “it is usually determined by me and my failure to be inspired”, crediting Oggy (Olga) with “such a great ear for melody and this incredible way with arrangements if I’m stumped”. Oggy agrees that “it works for us in that sense, that we're able to kind of seesaw off each other when we're putting together the songs”. The gradual build of ‘Pontiac Spirits’ is a masterclass of patience and release. Piano flutters for the first two minutes, stuttering like typewriter keys awash with Mellotron flute and brass, a slow climb before the drums finally kick in after five minutes. “I had an idea of it being like a Spiritualized ‘Shine A Light’ kind of thing, because Lazer Guided Melodies is one of my all time favorite records,” says Jace “and I've always been trying to get there with Besnard Lakes. And so this record, I said, let's try to make it Spiritualized / Spacemen 3 simple.” It also includes the best way to introduce a guitar solo; what sounds like tweeting (or screaming?!) birds, notes strangled from the fretboard. This striving for simplicity is also inherent in ‘Battle Lines’, which has a Spoon-like groove about it, the piano setting the pace, providing a rigidity in addition to their usual fluidity, woozy Mellotron whispers dipping in and out. “Sometimes there isn't a lot left for anybody else to do,” admits Jace “because I get my grubby hands on it and I just fill it up with crap because I'm a maximalist at heart.” On this song they tried to keep the track count down, to realise that “when we think we're in a good spot, let's stop”. The yearning closing refrain - “Don’t want to be left without it, don't want to be left without your love” - sounds like a stadium singalong that should be echoed by thousands. In a crowded leaderboard of their own making, The Besnard Lakes are the Ghost Nation might just be their best album yet; a strive for hope when it is needed most. Ben JonesMay 2025<hr>Gold Dust are more than a band. They’re a family. In a time of greater isolation and existential anxiety, they form a vital community. It wasn’t always this way. Gold Dust started four years ago as a solitary solo endeavor – a way for Western Massachusetts musician Stephen Pierce to branch out from his roots in DIY punk and explore a longtime fascination with traditional folk and psychedelia. After releasing two records, 2021’s self-titled and 2022’s The Late Great Gold Dust, Pierce welcomed new voices into the fold. Their collective effort, In the Shade of the Living Light, is the story of four people at a crossroads in their lives. They may never find the answers, but they have found solace and unconditional support in one another. Joining Pierce are Ally Einbinder (guitar, formerly of Potty Mouth), Adam Reid (drums, of Nanny), and Sean Greene (bass, of The Van Pelt). As a four-piece, Gold Dust springs out of the cloistered interior and transforms into a dynamic force. In the Shade of the Living Light embraces you with captivating guitar squalls and warm vocal harmonies, steady rhythms, and an innovative blend of influences, from traditional folk to West Coast psych, alternative punk, jangle-rock, and ‘90s college rock. “I look at this as a band starting to figure out who they are by leaning into regionalism,” Pierce says. “That's something that I miss, when different parts of the country and world would have distinct sounds and musical movements coming out of the communities, usually having something to do with their surroundings, be it geographical or cultural. Our rural part of the state is so culturally different from the more metropolitan part of MA; I've been pretty intentional pulling together from all the various music from around the world that influences me and tie it to something specifically evocative of rural New England.” Just as much as Pierce has given Einbinder, Reid, and Greene a creative platform and emotional sanctuary, the rest of the band have likewise encouraged the guitarist to push himself to release this collection. Initially, Pierce never thought he’d want to record the deeply personal tracks that make up In the Shade of the Living Light, a title with regeneration in mind and inspired by the writings of 11th century philosopher Hildegard of Bingen. “‘In the Shade of the Living Light’ means a lot of things to me, independent of what it might have meant to Hildegard.” Pierce says. “For me, making peace with these songs and turning them into something else – there's light in the shade, and there's shade in the light.” “It's a complicated record for me… I opened doors that I hadn't before, confronted darkness and came to terms with what's possible to come to terms with,” Pierce continues. “That's why I initially wanted to move past these songs quickly—they were tethered to the circumstances of the time. But, you know, strange things are born of chaos. Sometimes illuminating things. Things that, though difficult, are worth engaging.” Building out his vision for In the Shade of the Living Light, Gold Dust brought in an extended family of contributors, with production by Justin Pizzoferrato, with whom the band recorded at Sonelab in Easthampton, backing vocals from Gretchen Williams (Kindling), Meghan Minior (Ampere), and Josh Robbins (Late Bloomer), Fred Thomas on vocals and synth, Anthony Saffery (Cornershop) on sitar, Drew Gardner (Elkhorn) on vibraphone, and J Mascis, who plays electric sitar on “An Early Translation of a Later Work.” Finally, Sean Yeaton of Parquet Courts provided the liner notes, which come enveloped in an accompanying album zine. Mascis’ winding sitar solo closes out “An Early Translation of a Later Work,” a kaleidoscopic rocker Pierce reveals acts as a sonic bridge to a future Gold Dust record. “As far as my guitar playing goes, I'm prouder of that song than I think I am of anything else that we've released so far,” he adds. “For me, that's the song that heralds where we are as a band, and what the path ahead might look like.” Meanwhile, opener “Whatever’s Left” kicks in with stunning guitar-work that brims with urgency and feeling before cascading into Pierce’s even-toned vocal. As they anticipate the release of In the Shade of the Living Light, Pierce’s gratitude to his bandmates is palpable, both for their urging to record these songs and for encircling him with their unconditional love and support. “If left to my own devices, these songs would stay on the shelf. I wouldn't have reevaluated them,” he says. “Ally, Adam, and Sean encouraged me to revisit these songs, and I'm super grateful for that… Fundamentally, however, I think that the story of this record isn't so much about an individual. For me, it's the story of a band.”&nbsp;<hr>