NOW Toronto 10 March 2005
Sarah Liss
"If there were justice
in this world, Tony Dekker's hauntingly clear tenor would be worshipped
by legions of acolytes who'd put the combined fan bases of Thom Yorke and
Damien Rice to shame. Everything the Great Lake Swimmers mainman sings sounds
like the sweet mantra of a repentant sinner chased by demons, while his
band's precise, echoing arrangements of Wurlitzer, banjo, lap steel and
fragile acoustic plinking mimic the quiet desperation of Dekker's existential
cries. His lyrics, about feeling trapped in his own skin, the redemptive/
destructive power of love and dodging imaginary beasties, are overwhelmingly
intimate, but they're balanced by a restrained openness in the album's production.
Even the soaring choir on Falling Into The Sky is just the right size. GLS
should give lessons on how to succeed at the whole quiet-is-the-new-loud
thing." (link to article)
Chartattack, 15 March 2005
Marc Boudignon
"The notion of mind/body
duality has been debated in philosophy circles since Descartes, and now
London, Ontario's Great Lake Swimmers have joined the fray, but with a strictly
musical discourse. To say they're happier than Sartre is a given, but GLS
straddle the line between half-empty and half-full, with songs of longing
('To Leave It Behind'), fantasy ('Falling Into The Sky') and Kafkaesque
body-swapping ('Let's Trade Skins'). Bodies And Minds is where gothic country
meets the baroque pop of Red House Painters and though the duality remains
a theory in philosophical terms, as an album, it can only be considered
a successful amalgam." (link to article)
Montreal Mirror, 17 March 2005
Lorraine Carpenter
8.5/10
"Great Lake Swimmers,
you've earned your wings. Recorded in a rural Ontario church, this Toronto-based
quintet's sophomore LP opens with 'Song for the Angels,' a mournful hymn
that exemplifies their ability to bridge the earthly and the ethereal. The
band's tempos now surpass dirge-speed and their ever-reverberant arrangements
have grown to include drums, banjo, pedal steel, Wurlitzer and, on one song,
a choir. However, Tony Dekker's reliable, vaguely liturgical tenor still
dominates the vast, barren landscapes of their sound, a fine, if sometimes
frosty setting for his intimations about mundane tragedies and transcendental
yearnings." (link to article)
Toronto Star, CD Pick of the Week, 24 March 2005.
Swimmers flow on talent
Vit Wagner
"The title track
from Bodies and Minds, the stealthily superb second album by Great Lake Swimmers
(Weewerk), has many of the hallmarks of a full-on rock tune, including a refrain
that relies on repeated use of the word 'wanna,' followed by a coda of 'yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah.' There's even an electric guitar in there somewhere. All it
needs is several extra decibels. But volume is something singer/songwriter Tony
Dekker, the guiding force behind GLS, uses sparingly. Like its eponymous predecessor,
this 11-song sequel finds its distinctive voice in Dekker's hushed singing and
low-key but intricately executed arrangements. True, the supporting cast is
more substantial this time. Significant contributions coming from Sandro Perri
on lap steel, Almog Ben-David on keys, Colin Huebert on drums and, especially,
Erik Arneson, whose banjo awakens some of the album's brightest cuts, including
'Let's Trade Skins' and 'When it Flows.' Engineer Andy Magoffin has gone so
far as to enlist the London Ontario Community Singers to back up "Falling into
the Sky." But restraint is still the operative aesthetic. Lyrically, Dekker
remains fixated with relationships — not only romantic, but also those
between man and nature. The two themes dovetail beautifully on 'I Could Be Nothing':
'You would be nothing without me/I could be nothing/Said the waves to the sand/I
could be nothing without you.'..."
Discorder, May 2005
Soren Bros
"This album is
the wet dream that a lot of you more subdued readers have been having for a
while now, but haven’t been able to quite realize. Considered Toronto’s
answer to the Red House Painters, Nick Drake, and err… Neil Young, the
Great Lake Singers have returned on their second album to the atmospheric folk
that got them voted the best folk/roots artists in 2004’s Canadian Independent
Music Awards (though where their first album was recorded in a deserted grain
silo, this one was recorded in a lakeside rural church, giving it, like, a totally
different flavour). For those wary of yet more 'folk/roots Canadiana,' you can
also have the comfort of knowing that the Great Lake Swimmers’ lap steel
guitarist is none other than the Constellations Records rising star, Polmo Polpo,
and that Bodies and Minds was engineered and mixed by the same guy who works
with the Constantines and Royal City. That’s not to say that this is the
be all and end all album to come out in the past decade, though. While apparently
more varied than their first album, Bodies and Minds still never quite reaches
the intensity of any of the above–mentioned acts, even in its loudest
moments, but instead finds its greatest strength in the quiet moments where
there are chirping crickets in the background, and Tony Dekker’s plaintive
singing seeps into the head, making everything else wait on the backburner."
Exclaim! April 01, 2005
All Natural Great Lake Swimmers
By Rob Bolton
Tony Dekker takes acoustics very seriously. His haunting, sombre ballads emit
an otherworldly quality, due in no small part to the natural environment in
which they’re captured. His self-titled debut as Great Lake Swimmers was notoriously
recorded in a grain silo, so it’s no surprise that his follow-up, Bodies and
Minds, follows suit. “It was recorded in an old church on the beach near where
I grew up called Saint Teresa’s. It was a much quieter space; there was nothing
to deal with other than the odd car going by.”
Natural reverb and folkie arrangements complement Dekker’s soft voice perfectly,
sure to draw similar comparisons to his debut (Will Oldham, Mark Kozelek). “The
first album, I went into completely blind. I didn’t know any of [those artists].
I understand why people compare things — it helps create a narrative, and it
gives people context. And I’d like to think that there’s some kind of collective
subconscious that we’re all drawing from.”
Despite creating a quiet, melancholic listening experience, Dekker’s first
passion was punk. “Punk music doesn’t necessarily have to be loud and heavy.
It’s more the ethic that anyone can do this: pick up a guitar, play, write songs,
get your point across. Growing up on a farm, I did hear a lot of country music,
so that’s in my bones too. Country and punk rock are not really that different.”
Although the instrumentation is fuller, the fragile beauty of his songs remains.
Dekker’s music has always touched on themes of duality — love and pain, nature
and modernity — and the struggle to achieve balance. “It’s the disparity between
being human and being a human animal, finding a type of holiness in the harshness
of nature. Those are probably the two main themes that I’d like to think run
through the album. Not just a connection, but a respect for nature.” (link to article)
Umbrella Music, 15 April 2005
Stuart Henderson
Rating: 8
It isn’t quite that mellow music is ‘in’ these days – one quick turn of the
radio dial will alleviate your confusion there – but more that mellow music
has found an audience again. Great (and well-publicized) music from Iron and
Wine, Kings of Convenience and Bright Eyes, for example, has turned people on
the indie train onto the considerable joys of sleepy, beautiful music once more.
So, Toronto-based Great Lake Swimmers are poised to take advantage of just the
right climate for their warm, narcoleptic sound. Here’s hoping it works out.
Here are soft, finger-strummed classical guitars; banjo-meets-lapsteel orchestration;
wide open cymbals and loose-as-change snare drums; deep, oceanic reverb production
values. This is one of those eerie, entrancing records – perhaps too somnolent
to endure in the wrong mood, but powerful enough to draw the listener in when
one is ready to appreciate its charms.
And, there are at least two immediate classics on here, two tunes so good that
elsewhere, when the record weakens, or loses some of its focus, one is inclined
to forgive rather than condemn. “Various Stages” (apparently about manic depression,
but more demonstrably about sex and soul) is both gorgeous and exhilarating:
an urgent, standout track. And, the soothing melody of “Let’s Trade Skins” carves
a deep curving path through the wide plain of its echo-chamber production. There
is something plainly sexy about Dekker’s soft-as-silk delivery here; his is
the voice, and this is the tune, you want to wrap around you, to keep you warm
on frosty nights.
Not quite a band with its own sound, not yet fully able to step beyond their
influences – shades of Love, Nick Drake, Neil Young and My Morning Jacket impede
the developing mystery a bit too often – Great Lake Swimmers are still enough
the band they want to be that they are able to present us with a near-perfect
expression of their powers. Keep an eye on these guys.
SoundsXP Apr 14, 2005
James S
Great Lake Swimmers
Bodies and Minds
Fargo
How often has it been noted that a band were just in the wrong place at the
wrong time? Just as Canada has found itself in a position of coolness never
seen before, it's just Great Lake Swimmers' luck to be from Toronto when everyone
is flocking to Montreal to find the next in line to break through in the wake
of The Dears and The Arcade Fire. No-one's really champing at the bit to uncover
the successors to Broken Social Scene or Royal City now, are they?
Not that Great Lake Swimmers appear particularly concerned with city life anyway.
Their first album was recorded in an abandoned grain silo and this, their sophomore
effort, found its home in a rural lakeside church. Accordingly, there's a gentle
rustic Americana feel, not to mention some rather off-putting ambient noise
beneath several tracks, as Tony Dekker and cohorts tiptoe along the line between
Will Oldham-inspired beauty and James Yorkston-insipid balladry.
That line proves much finer than you might think. For its opening half 'Bodies
and Minds' manages to have a slightly soporific effect on both its title's subjects.
The songs are sweet enough on their own but collectively they begin to blend
into one another rather quickly. When It Flows sums this up best by being the
only track in recorded history to feature both a lap steel and strings and yet
fail to make this reviewer curl up in the foetal position gurgling with joy.
Suddenly though, the somnolent atmosphere lifts with the arrival of Falling
Into The Sky. Sure, the banjo is almost funereal in pace but it's the presence
of the London Ontario Community Singers that lifts the whole thing to another
level. "Fur and feathers and leather and scales, they'll tear you apart if they
get the chance" they chorus merrily, as the whole in-awe-of-the animals spirit
of The Handsome Family at their finest imbues the song with warmth and wonder.
The good will that it evokes carries the album through to the close. Imaginary
Bars is what Tom Petty would sound like if he was thirty years younger and was
raised on a diet of Lambchop, whilst Long Into The Evening is minimal but magical,
with Dekker's vocal finding only scratches of guitar and an echo of percussion
for company. If only they'd pulled off these tricks a little sooner, I might
have believed they were from Montreal after all.
(link to article)
Echo Weekly (Guelph ON), 31 March 2005
Set Adrift with Great Lake Swimmers
By Michelle Lobkowicz
Since their self–titled debut was released in 2003, the Great Lake Swimmers
have garnered critical and indie admiration for making captivatingly poignant
music without even a trace of pretense or insincerity. Drawn in by delicate,
atmospheric melodies, listeners are again and again overcome by singer/guitarist
Tony Dekker’s evocative vocals and songwriting, which are at once discerning
and fragile, tender and heart wrenching, understated yet without restraint.
With the release of the Great Lake Swimmers’ stunning second album Bodies and
Minds, this deference will likely reach pandemic proportions. Enjoying a wide
international release (on weewerk in Canada, on Fargo Records in Europe, and
on Misra in the USA) Bodies and Minds will be supported by extensive touring,
including a European tour in May and a US tour in the fall.
With Dekker drawing comparison to the likes of Nick Drake, Will Oldham, and
early Neil Young, and the band already awarded a top honour at the 2004 Canadian
Independent Music Awards (Favourite Roots/Folk Artist), it’s natural to wonder
how the Swimmers will develop in the face of even greater exposure. “It’s my
hope that Great Lake Swimmers will continue to make the kind of music that is
concerned with thoughtfulness, honesty, and simplicity,” says Dekker, who pays
little mind to all the attention they’ve received thus far. “As an artist, I’m
really concerned with what’s on the horizon and with continuing to write songs
that come from the heart and developing as a writer.” This heart–on–my–sleeve
honesty is still present on Bodies and Minds, but unlike its predecessor’s sparseness
(where the backdrop to Dekker’s songs of longing and nostalgia was often little
more than acoustic guitar and silo reverb), here the songs are supported by
the tasteful accompaniment of Sandro Perri (of Polmo Polpo) on lap steel, Erik
Arneson on banjo, Almog Ben–David on Wurlitzer piano, and Colin Huebert on drums.
The resulting sound is warm and rich while still remaining quiet, and intricate
without losing any of its thoughtful simplicity. “Bodies and Minds feels very
much like a continuation of the debut,” relates Dekker, “especially with the
focus on the atmospherics of the room, but with a few more people lending their
hands instrumentally.”
The room referred to is St. Theresa’s Church in Long Beach, Ontario, a cavernous
lakeside retreat that played host to the band and recording engineer Andy Magoffin
(Constantines, Royal City). Dekker says the church pushes the idea of what exactly
a studio is, in terms of function and form. This setting also lends an almost
palpable openness and grace to Bodies and Minds, adding perhaps another layer
of meaning to the album’s exploration of embodiment and fantasy. You could say
that the bodies and minds referenced in the album’s title are nudged further
into the ecclesiastical realm, especially on the beautiful opener “Song For
The Angels” and tracks like “I Saw You in the Wild” and “Falling Into The Sky,”
where the band is joined by the London Ontario Community Singers. Dekker suggests
that this resonance wasn’t really planned, at least not overtly.
“Thematically, I feel that there is some exploration of spiritual issues on
the new album so recording in a church is obviously appropriate for that, but
there is also this backdrop of small town Ontario and Lake Erie and I think
that is important to the context too,” he says. “It unfolded in a fairly organic
way, and I think the setting adds an extra thing for the listener to think about,
like how the themes of the songs relate to the spaces they were recorded in.”
So even while Bodies and Minds is an exploration of human beings as both thinking
and feeling creatures, and of that confusing gap that sometimes exists between
these two constant and natural occupations, the album — and perhaps the Great
Lake Swimmers as a whole — is really about the task and power of perception,
of listening. This will surely be confirmed for those lucky enough to catch
the band when they drift into Guelph and Waterloo this week.
“We are basically a quiet, alt–country flavored, independent band who play
thoughtful, shaky folk music,” says Dekker. “Come and see us if you’d like to
have a quiet night out.” (link to article)
tangents.co.uk
Alistair Fitchett
Clearing The Decks
Part 2
I mentioned before about Controller.Controller's marvellous fiery fractious
Pop being more than worthy of celebration. Well the same could easily be said
of the gentle melancholic Bodies And Minds set by fellow Toronto outfit Great
Lake Swimmers. Sonically it's a million miles away from Controller.Controller,
but it's another valuable piece of the puzzle that says that Canada is currently
one of the leaders in the provision of intriguing, challenging new music. Led
by singer/songwriter Tony Dekker, Great Lake Swimmers inhabit the spectral inner
space of delicately assembled contemporary folk/country music, creating the
kinds of sounds that draw in links to the likes of Neil Young, Mark Kozelek,
Gram Parsons and Will Oldham whilst simultaneously making something raw and
pure and specially, but not specifically original. In other words Great Lake
Swimmers take the elements and craft traditional moments that resonate with
a personal essence but which shimmer with the valuable intensity of the genre.
And we should never underestimate the value of genre, except when it's used
as an ugly hook to hang things on through lack of insight. Bodies And Minds
is a gloriously under-stated shimmer of a record that wraps tendrils of translucent
green around the heart; the soft kisses of Spring creeping gently from the darkness,
blinking and shy but ultimately beautiful and strong. (link to article)
Sounds XP, 14 April 2005
Great Lake Swimmers Bodies and Minds Fargo
Article written by James S
How often has it been noted that a band were just in the wrong place at the
wrong time? Just as Canada has found itself in a position of coolness never
seen before, it's just Great Lake Swimmers' luck to be from Toronto when everyone
is flocking to Montreal to find the next in line to break through in the wake
of The Dears and The Arcade Fire. No-one's really champing at the bit to uncover
the successors to Broken Social Scene or Royal City now, are they?
Not that Great Lake Swimmers appear particularly concerned with city life
anyway. Their first album was recorded in an abandoned grain silo and this,
their sophomore effort, found its home in a rural lakeside church. Accordingly,
there's a gentle rustic Americana feel, not to mention some rather off-putting
ambient noise beneath several tracks, as Tony Dekker and cohorts tiptoe along
the line between Will Oldham-inspired beauty and James Yorkston-insipid balladry.
That line proves much finer than you might think. For its opening half 'Bodies
and Minds' manages to have a slightly soporific effect on both its title's subjects.
The songs are sweet enough on their own but collectively they begin to blend
into one another rather quickly. When It Flows sums this up best by being the
only track in recorded history to feature both a lap steel and strings and yet
fail to make this reviewer curl up in the foetal position gurgling with joy.
Suddenly though, the somnolent atmosphere lifts with the arrival of Falling
Into The Sky. Sure, the banjo is almost funereal in pace but it's the presence
of the London Ontario Community Singers that lifts the whole thing to another
level. "Fur and feathers and leather and scales, they'll tear you apart if they
get the chance" they chorus merrily, as the whole in-awe-of-the animals spirit
of The Handsome Family at their finest imbues the song with warmth and wonder.
The good will that it evokes carries the album through to the close. Imaginary
Bars is what Tom Petty would sound like if he was thirty years younger and was
raised on a diet of Lambchop, whilst Long Into The Evening is minimal but magical,
with Dekker's vocal finding only scratches of guitar and an echo of percussion
for company. If only they'd pulled off these tricks a little sooner, I might
have believed they were from Montreal after all.
(link to article)
Jared Bland, theRatio.org, 11 March 2005
Zeenz.nl, 11 Apr 05
Great Lake Swimmers - Bodies and Minds (Weewerk)
Oh Tony Dekker, we voelen je pijn. We voelen je verdriet en we leven met je
mee. Voor even zijn we gelukkig op onze slechtste dagen. Als Great Lake Swimmers
opent de Canadees met zijn engelachtige stem een wereld waarin eenzame zielen
en gebroken harten samen kunnen zijn. Dat deed hij al succesvol op zijn debuut,
‘Great Lake Swimmers’ en dat lukt hem nu weer op zijn tweede album, ‘Bodies
and Minds’.
Net als voor zijn debuut, dat hij opnam in een verlaten graansilo, toog Dekker
ditmaal weer met zijn ideeën naar een unieke lokatie, een kerkje op het Canadese
platteland. De verstilde muziek balanceert op het randje van serene folk en
eenvoudige alternatieve country. Maar ‘Bodies and Minds’ is allerminst oubollig
of boerenkielwerk te noemen. Het is een tijdloze plaat waar vooral Dekkers hemelse
stem een hoofdrol opeist.
Nog altijd is het vooral zijn solide akoestische gitaarspel die de mooie basis
vormt maar op ‘Bodies and Minds’ komen zelfs een, zij het ingetogen, accordeon,
een banjo (op het prachtige ‘Let’s Trade Skins’ bijvoorbeeld) en een piano voorbij.
Dekker schept de ultieme hemelse blues. Met titels als ‘Songs for Angels’ sta
ik daarin blijkbaar niet alleen en weet hij het zelf ook. De wolken waarop zijn
vocalen rusten drijven niet ver van de hemelpoorten vandaan en hier is geen
woord van overdreven. (link to article)
Han Orsel, review (in Dutch) on kindamuzik.net, March 2005
PopNews.com, mai 2005
Jean-Charles Dufeu
C'était il y a à peu près un an. Du Canada, un très discret songwriter, savamment
dissimulé derrière un pseudonyme collectif, nous faisait part de son premier
disque : un chef d'œuvre de folk déprimé, d'une beauté mélancolique glacée,
où, derrière l'épure instaurée comme une règle, pointaient quelques merveilles
mélodiques d’une rare émotion. Great Lake Swimmers était une apparition remarquée
(ou pour le moins très remarquable) en cette année 2004, pourtant riche en jeunes
gens férus de folk et en Canadiens talentueux (et parfois même les deux en même
temps).
Depuis un an, Tony Dekker, le songwriter en question, a beaucoup tourné, vendu
quelques disques (sans doute en quantité très raisonnable, mais certainement
beaucoup plus qu'il n'aurait jamais imaginé), et a toujours été accueilli par
une presse élogieuse et un public charmé. On comprend donc que son deuxième
album, sans être évidemment enjoué, soit moins systématiquement dépressif que
ne l'était le premier. Garçon de nature très introvertie, Tony Dekker s'est
ouvert doucement sur ce disque à une musique plus épanouie, à plus de fantaisies
(qui, à l'image de leur auteur, sont cependant très discrètes)... Si les morceaux
du premier album étaient ancrés dans un schéma très strict guitare/voix, résolument
folk, certains titres de "Bodies and Minds", dont la chanson éponyme, lorgnent
parfois vers une muisque plus pop, plus aérée, plus légère, moins solennelle.
Certes, la voix, céleste, du chanteur n'a rien perdu de sa force émotionnelle
et maintient un degré de gravité constant sur l'ensemble du disque, mais les
compositions elles-mêmes peuvent avoir, sur "Falling Into the Sky", marquée
par des chœurs apaisés, ou "Long Into The Evening" par exemple un ton inattendu,
moins triste tout simplement que ce à quoi on pouvait s'attendre. Certains,
de ce fait, reprocheront peut-être à "Bodies and Minds" d'être moins radical
que son prédécesseur. Mais ce parti pris permet plus de variété, donne plus
de champ au songwriting hors pair de Tony Dekker. Il fait d'ailleurs mouche
à plusieurs reprises, sur "To Leave it Behind" notamment, magnifique ballade
dont les sept ingrédients magiques sont une voix tombée du ciel et six cordes
de guitare. Le talent de notre jeune Canadien se montre en effet d’autant plus
indéniable que la formule est simple. Au jeu de l’épure acoustique, Tony Dekker
peut difficilement rendre son art perfectible, et l’adresse aux anges en ouverture
de disque jette sur l’ensemble de celui-ci un voile de pureté gracieuse, proche
du mysticisme, jamais remis en cause. Définitivement, l'un des auteurs les plus
poignants de la scène folk actuelle, sans doute même plus que cela. (link to article)
LesChoses.com, 22 avril 2005
Titres préférés : Falling into the sky - Imaginary bars - Song for the angels
Thierry HOUAL
17.0 / 20
C’est la deuxième livraison discographique pour Tony Dekker après un premier
album magnifique sorti l’an dernier et présent dans notre bilan 2004. Comme
son prédécesseur celui-ci est construit autour d’un folk dépouillé, austère
et intemporel. Mais enregistré dans une chapelle isolée et bénéficiant de la
présence d’un groupe, il est d’une ampleur encore plus impressionnante et captivante.
Il suffirait juste d’énumérer les titres constituant cet album pour décrire
les sensations procurées par son écoute : par exemple Song for the angels, Falling
into the sky.……
Tout est dit mais on ne peut s’empêcher d’en rajouter encore. C’est un moment
de grâce comme il en arrive rarement. Un intervalle de temps suspendu, où la
joie rejoint la tristesse pour s’annuler et ainsi former une parenthèse de profonde
quiétude, de beauté intense enveloppée dans une aura lumineuse et fascinante.
Vous allez vous dire que cela ressemble à un cliché maintes fois utilisé que
de dire tout cela mais les émotions provoquées par 'Bodies and minds' sont réellement
de cet ordre.
Cet album est au minimum indispensable pour tout amoureux de musique qui se
respecte et une nouvelle preuve que le Canada est sa nouvelle terre promise. (link to article)
Liability webzine, May 2005
Great Lake Swimmers Bodies And Minds [Fargo::2005]
Mais qu’est-ce qu'il se passe au Canada ? Y aurait-il quelque chose dans l’eau
qui exacerbe la créativité des musiciens locaux ? Y aurait-il des vertus cachées
au kebab de caribou aux airelles ? La feuille d’érable ne serait-elle qu’une
feuille de cannabis habilement dissimulée ? Bref, comment expliquer l’incroyable
richesse de la scène musicale canadienne ? Non seulement le pays regorge de
petits génies, mais en plus ceux-ci ont le culot de ne pas se cantonner dans
un seul genre ! Les uns bousculent la pop (The Dears, The Arcade Fire), les
autres le rock (The Silver Mount Zion, Godspeed You ! Black Emperor), les femmes
chantent sublimement bien (Feist, Sarah Slean), les hommes aussi (Rufus Wainwright,
Ron Sexsmith), certains rappent (Buck 65), certains hurlent (Death From Above
1979), certains flirtent avec le jazz (Do Make Say Think) et au final tous excellent.
Les Great Lake Swimmers ne dérogent pas à la règle. Auteurs l’an passé d’un
premier album éponyme touché par la grâce, ces nageurs en eau douce pourraient
bien surprendre leur monde avec ce deuxième opus toujours mélancolique mais
étonnamment chaleureux. Distribué en France par le label Fargo qui ne manque
pas une occasion pour les mettre en avant, notamment via plusieurs tournées
communes avec Andrew Bird, le groupe mené par le discret songwriter Tony Dekker
(un Canadien, donc) prolonge la magie sur ce "Bodies And Minds" qui fleure bon
le crépitement de feu de bois.
La réelle différence entre les deux opus de Great Lake Swimmers est que l’on
est ici en présence d’un réel travail de groupe, là où le précédent effort sonnait
comme l’œuvre d’un seul homme. Plus travaillés, arrangés plus méticuleusement,
des titres comme Let's Trade Skins ou I Could Be Nothing révèlent un univers
bouleversant, très proche de celui de Will Oldham ou de Neil Young. Sur Bodies
And Minds, le tempo est même étonnamment énergique et lorsque des chœurs surgissent
sur Falling Into The Sky, on se dit que l’on s’éloigne singulièrement de la
solitude et de la mélancolie automnale du "disque avec un poisson sur la pochette".
Pourtant, l’ensemble reste d’une fragilité poignante, touchant juste à chaque
note, à chaque parole, à chaque intonation… Les lacs canadiens ont semble-t-il
encore beaucoup de mystères à nous révéler.
par popop, chronique publiée le 06-05-2005
Un autre regard
D’abord, cette voix, doux écho d’une vallée perdue aux fin fond d’un pays inventé
de toutes pièces. Et de pièce, il n’en fallut qu’une à Great Lake Swimmers pour
y former ces onze bulles de cristal. Et de taille, la pièce et les bulles. Enregistré
dans un silo à l’abandon sur le bord d’une route d’Ontario (c’est pas la classe,
ça ?), dans l’ « Amérique des gens ordinaires », Tony Dekker, vocaliste au timbre
sexy en diable, a dû se fendre drôlement la poire en voyant le spectacle peu
ordinaire de son art du même acabit : des bulles en veux-tu en voilà, dans un
silo remplis de criquets (si, si !) et de violons, de piano voltigeur et de
banjos voyageurs. Le mercure s’affole à la chaleur – du corps, du cœur – caniculaire
d’un Song for the Angels qui se pose en cheval blanc dans ce manège loin d’être
mécanique. Plus haut dans le silo, l’apesanteur : To leave it Behind et ses
arpèges multicolores et boisés, l’atmosphère doucement flippante de Long Into
the Evening et l’incroyable Falling Into the Sky dont le chœur exulte et le
nôtre décède alors. Je vous avais prévenus, ce refrain tue. Je ne remercierai
jamais assez les gens qui ont laissé le silo se dégrader au point d’avoir permis
un jour à ces bulles de se former, de se mélanger, et de se retrouver aujourd’hui
dans nos têtes.
par Jejules, chronique publiée le 06-05-2005
Plattentests (Germany), April 2005
(Oliver Ding)
Geistreich
Als Tony Dekker vor zwei Jahren seinen zutiefst berührenden Klagefolk in einem
verlassenen Getreidesilo hörbar machte, echote nicht nur die Musik. Vergleiche
mit Nick Drake, Sparklehorse, Elliott Smith, Will Oldham und Neil Young schwirrten
durch die Rezensionen von "Great Lake Swimmers". Die ganz Großen also. Und zwar
völlig zurecht. Denn Dekkers Schmachten steckte voller melancholischer Zärtlichkeit
und schüchterner Hoffnung. Lieder zum Ausheulen. Zum Anlehnen. Zum Füßedranwärmen
und Liebkuscheln.
Wenn sich Dekker jetzt mit einiger Unterstützung in eine Kirche aufmacht, um
auch "Bodies and minds" zu einer sakralen Erfahrung zu machen, ist das nur konsequent.
Ein Hauch von Musik und ein Hauch von Musikanten sorgen für leisegetretene Zutraulichkeit.
Kaum vernehmbar rieseln Pedal Steel, Banjo, Mundharmonika, Violine und Wurlitzer
in die betulichen Melodien. Gelegentlich sorgen Schlagzeug und Zerrgitarre für
ein Gefühl von Tempo in diesen Songskizzen, die wie ein Versuch klingen und
doch von präziser Eindringlichkeit sind. Understatement nennt man das wohl.
Und plötzlich gerät gar das Geschehen in Fluß. "When it flows" sorgt beinahe
für einen Geschwindigkeitsrausch. Das Titelstück versteckt seinen Schwung unter
einem zutraulichen Gitarrenpicking, und "Various stages" schunkelt sich warm.
"Falling into the sky" leistet sich gar einen veritablen Chor. Mehr Körperlichkeit
im Klang, nur eine Spur weniger Seelenbalsam als auf dem Vorgänger. Dekker flüstert
dazu von Spiritualität und Depression, von Transzendenz, Entkörperung und Selbstvergessenheit.
Eine ganzheitliche Erfahrung. (link to article)
irieites.de
Karsten Frehe
Great Lake Swimmers
"Bodies And Minds" (Fargo/Rough Trade - 2005)
Während das Debütalbum der Kanadier in einem verlassenen Getreidesilo aufgenommen
wurde, zog es die Musiker um Tony Dekker (ähnlich wie vorher die Cowboy Junkies)
nun in heilige Hallen, genauer in die St. Theresa's Kirche in Ontario. Das hat
die Aufnahmen noch eleganter und spiritueller gemacht. "Bodies And Minds" wurde
so zu einem stillen Meisterwerk auf dem sich 11 kontemplative Songs aneinander
reihen - feinsinnig und sehr kunstvoll in Szene gesetzt. Sucht man Verwandtschaften,
so wird man bei den zarten Songs von Will Oldham, Nick Drake und Songs:Ohia
fündig. Manch Kritiker sah sogar die Nähe zu Neil Young's ruhigeren Werken.
Die Great Lake Swimmers bedienen also eher die träumerischen und melancholischen
Seiten unseres Daseins, schaffen dies jedoch ohne in Tristesse hinabzugleiten.
Ute Trautner zog in der Szene Hamburg das Fazit: "Ruhige, sacht schimmernde
Songs zwischen traurig und trostvoll". "Let's Trade Skins", der zweite Song
auf dem Album, gerät dabei zu einem zeitlosen Meisterwerk, das unter die Haut
geht und das Herz berührt. Verzaubernde Musik für lange Spaziergänge am Strand
oder ruhige Momente auf dem Sofa. (link to article)
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