$The Besnard Lakes + The Thorn \/ YES Pink Room, Manchester \/ Wed 18 Feb$

The Besnard Lakes return with their seventh album The Besnard Lakes Are the Ghost Nation. In doing so confirming their status as one of the most peerlessly consistent bands over the 20 years plus of their existence – with a purity of vision and level of quality that is hard to rival in modern music.
“I feel like it’s a very formidable title, symbolic of the times,” says co-singer Jace Lasek. “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 confirms 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.”
They gathered in a gorgeous barn at Lost River Studios, deep in the woods of the Laurentians, to record the album. Spending 5 days compiling, experimenting and experiencing the creative solitude in the woods with some of the band’s family members there. The result is a playful yet thoughtful and heartfelt collection of psychedelic sounds and experiences, which was mixed by Lasek at the Rigaud Ranch Studio.
The first cut lifted from the album ‘In Hollywood’ dates back to 2010 and…are the Roaring Night era, recalls co-singer Olga Goreas: “It’s a melody that was circulating in Jace’s mind for many years. Unable to let it go, Jace sat with it and finally brought it to light. Written in a dropped D tuning, In Hollywood is atypical in the Besnard canon. Some very creative synth work from Sheenah in the outro. A beautifully bizarre guitar solo from Gabriel. This one shows off Jace’s vocal stylings and has an intriguing lyrical journey for the listener to discover.”
The Besnard Lakes Are the Ghost Nation is another fascinating trip and it might just be their best album yet; a strive for hope when it is needed most.
The Besnard Lakes are Jace Lasek, Olga Goreas, Kevin Laing, Gabriel Lambert, Sheenah Ko.
Tour support comes from The Thorn. The Thorn (formerly Large Plants) are a musical group from London, England who play psych-tinged heavy folk-rock with nods to jazz and soul that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Numero compilation of lost early 70’s fuzz jams. Initially formed in 2021 to play the solo recordings of founder Jack Sharp (Wolf People), the live band has since grown and changed, developing a life of its own. Joined by bassist Paul Milne (Hanging Stars, Green Seagull) and drummer Itamar Rubinger (Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats), they played many shows supporting the likes of Mudhoney, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Chris Cohen and Johnny Echols’ Love.
In 2024 they were joined by Cambridge singer songwriter Naomi Randall and were able to explore their love of British folk-rock pioneers like Trees, Pentangle and Fairport Convention. The new name The Thorn was chosen to mark the change whilst acknowledging a continuation of the spirit of the band.
Price: £17.50 adv
Info/tickets: https://www.heymanchester.com/the-besnard-lakes-6