The Besnard Lakes

"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 inmodern 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 Lasekand 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.