Great Lake Swimmers Ongiara by: Justin Pearsall Mon:13-Aug-07 Label: Nettwerk Year: 2007 WB rating 72 out of 100

While iTunes labels it ‘country’, the new Great Lake Swimmers album, Ongiara, would be more appropriately labelled ‘slo-fi’. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, the newest GLS record continues singer-songwriter (and band leader) Tony Dekker’s love affair with After The Gold Rush-styled folk, the Canadian three-piece having further ingrained themselves in light-and-lush country balladry. The result is a consolidation that confirms their status among the best of indie’s easy-listening parade, but fails to make inroads into challenging this very label.

Less diverse than both their self-titled debut and Bodies and Minds – an album greatly spirited by the emotion-filled title track – Ongiara’s progression is its rigid mood, a temper which dominates from the opening seconds to the dying note. For most the one-tracked tempo and droning ambience will be the definitive factor on whether or not you enjoy the third effort from GLS, as musically this is an album for Sunday housekeeping - opening the windows and exhaling a long, deep breathe.

Album opener’s ‘Your Rocky Spine’s banjo-led meandering provides a framework for the album to follow, Dekker’s sage-sounding voice and the lithe female harmonies tie heart strings to the gentle accompaniment. Similarly, ‘Backstage With The Modern Dancers’ and ‘There Is a Light’ exist in a tepid-sounding blend of early Neil Young and ambience ala Art of Fighting. Both songs are allowed to wander and flow, the tempo withheld, lyricism and instruments sparse, even the most subtle improvisations and dynamic changes are embolden by the open musical landscape.

While subtleties do reveal themselves with further listens (see ‘Catcher Songs’ military-styled snare rolls, ‘Changing Colours’ waltz-rock conclusion and the aggressive overdriven guitars on ‘Put There By The Land’), the homogeneity of Ongiara is saved by its expertly craftsmanship. Whether it be the rolling banjo that dominates much of the record, the delicate infusions of strings and organs, the homely detail of Dekker’s lyricism: “One thing I’ll say for the less travelled way/It doesn’t have subtlety/but has twice the gravity” or the world-class folk songwriting, every inch of Ongiara is precise.

While I still believe that Ongiara would have benefited from the inclusion of a soaring track in the spirit of ‘Bodies and Mind’, and sometimes Dekker’s Neil Young homage veers ominously close to cloning – take for example the first notes of ‘Passenger’s melody and compare this with Young’s ‘A Man Needs A Maid’ from Harvest), overall GLS’ third album is a clear and definite winner; an enjoyable lilt through a pastoral environment, readymade for lazy afternoon listening and quiet contemplation.