The Besnard Lakes The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse by: Mark Simms Tue:06-Mar-07 Label: Jagjaguwar Year: 2007 WB rating 71 out of 100

In The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse, sounds of old mix with the new and unpredictable, the end result being a collection of rich and multi-layered songs that beckon the ear’s attention. Listening is like going backwards into the familiar but venturing forwards into the unknown, as The Besnard Lakes have created a time machine that transports you into the past and the future at the same time. Yes, I like what I am hearing.

Each track moves at a slow and brooding pace, building and rising in different ways, as Jace Lasek and his wife Olga Goreas are aided by a music store of sounds: violins, French horns, glockenspiel, a choir and experimental guitars creating a layered sound. Each instrument and voice serves its own important purpose in the sound and in creating songs that puzzle, entertain, annoy, and leave the ears straining to experience any sounds that they may have missed.

‘For Agent 13’ hypnotises the ears; Jace Lasek sounding somewhere between Neil Young and Brian Wilson, as he soothes the mind into a state of relaxed, semi-coma – it doesn’t matter that the garbage must be taken out, or that the dog must be let outside before the carpet changes colour. As Jace’s magical voice repeats: “My baby don’t go” and Olga answers back with her mixture of responses, all distractions become background. Jace and Olga not only provide the mesmerising voices but also play every instrument on the track. As the organ defines this song, combining with the voice of Jace, the ears tingle in a rash of excitement. This is a sound that overwhelms the senses. 

In The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse there is stopping and starting, slowing, and then slowing some more. These jagged structures and tendency to rise and build can confuse and amaze at the same time.

In ‘Because Tonight’, the violins jitter, jump and flex all over. Olga comes across as a soothing and seductive siren, trying to put the listener into a trance – completely under her control. It is a strange combination and only becomes more puzzling as it continues. ‘Because Tonight’ then transforms from a hypnotic siren to a giant clash of noises that rock and shake all over. It is the best example of how the music of the Besnard Lakes rises and builds, and how it can be soothing and seductive one minute, and clashing but enjoyable the next.

It is hard to categorise the sound of The Besnard Lakes, as just when you think you have defined it, everything changes. One minute it sounds like something from the ‘60s that would have opened a show for Neil Young, and the next the music has flashed forwards and is something entirely original. The combination of glorious harmonies and the vast array of instruments cause each of the eight tracks on The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse to contain something special. Some of the tracks may require many listens before they become caught in your head. However, once The Besnard Lakes are in there, good luck getting them out.