Narc. Magazine Online
Reliably informed
Michaela Hall opines on an ambiguous but powerful offering from the Montreal veterans
Full Time Hobby
Released: 10.10.25
The new album from The Besnard Lakes is beautiful, melodic and haunting. The Besnard Lakes Are The Ghost Nation from the Montreal band is one which leaves us with more questions than answers, in a powerful and moving way. One of the band’s vocalists Jace Lasek describes the album’s ‘very formidable title’ and how it is ‘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’.
Although the band are clear that their music is not to be labelled as political and try to steer away from this, it’s clear that the thought behind the whole album is laced with belonging, community, identity and explores social constructs in an expressive yet ambiguous way.
The seductively beautiful vocals from Lasek and Olga Goreas are perfectly matched with the journey of harmonies throughout the whole album. We are wondering what’s coming next from the soft yet tense melodic start in Calling Ghostly Nations to the unnerving undertones on In Hollywood and the grand finale filled with emotion and hope alongside dramatic melody in Give Us Our Dominion.
Political or not – this album will mean a lot of different things to different people and its ambiguous, yet powerful lyrics allow each listener their own relationship with it. The album leaves you feeling like it represents something important – and is a capture of the times we live in.
