The Besnard Lakes announce new album, share “In Hollywood” video

Montreal indie rock vets The Besnard Lakes have announced their seventh album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Ghost Nation, which will be out October 10 via Full Time Hobby. “I feel like it’s a very formidable title, symbolic of the times,” says co-bandleader Jace Lasek, who composed and produced the album with partner Olga Goreas. “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 last record was so heavy,” Jace adds, referencing 2021’s great The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings. “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.”

You can get a taste of Ghost Nation now with first single “In Hollywood,” which has all the trippy grandeur you expect from The Besnard Lakes. “It’s a melody that was circulating in Jace’s mind for many years,” says Olga. “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.”

Watch the video below.

No word on tour dates yet. Stay tuned.

The Besnard Lakes Are the Ghost Nation
1. Calling Ghostly Nations
2. Chemin de la Baie
3. Carried It All Around
4. In Hollywood
5. Pontiac Spirits
6. Battle Lines
7. The Clouds are Casting Shadows from the Sunlight
8. Gives Us Our Dominion