CD Odyssey 1656: Lord Huron

Sorry for the delay, gentle readers but in return for your patience you shall be rewarded with both an album review and immediately following that, a concert review!

This is the first in a pair of long (for me) weekend reviews where I pair a band’s latest record with a recent concert appearance.

Disc 1656 is…Long Lost

Artist: Lord Huron

Year of Release: 2021

What’s up with the Cover?  When I see this cover I hear the voice of a scolding motherly type saying, “What’re we gonna do with that boy? Always walking all over town playing guitar with his head in the clouds.”

To which the boy responds with a whiny, “Mom! My head is those clouds!”

How I Came To Know It: I have liked Lord Huron since around 2015 when they released “Strange Trails”. I did not like their next record, 2018’s “Vide Noir” but they got me back into the fold with “Long Lost” three years later. Mostly.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Lord Huron albums. Of those three (i.e. not "Vide Noir") “Long Lost” is my least favourite. Sorry, Lord Huron, but someone has to be last.

Rating: 3 stars

57 minutes that should’ve been 38 and 16 tracks that should’ve been nine. That’s the summary of the sometimes brilliant but often bloated fourth studio release from indie folk artist Lord Huron.

Let’s start with the positive. Lord Huron are the masters of atmospheric folk music, using rich overlapping harmonies and a surprisingly compelling hum to the production to deliver a mysterious, ghost-like sound. While I prefer their work using this technique on previous records, “Long Lost” has more than a few fine examples.

Most notable of these is the first full length track on the album, “Mine Forever” which not only has those beautiful harmonies, but also a crazy western desert guitar sound that makes you feel like you’re about to come across an old time shoot out, or maybe an abandoned town filled with the vengeful spirits who were the former victims of those shoot outs in the distant past.

Playing you further into this mood is the mournful regret of “Twenty Long Years” the story of a vain and tragic quest that leaves our hero on the side of the road bemoaning his fate with:

“I’ve a thought or two to share with you
But the dope tends to cloud my mind
I destroyed my health searching for myself
But there ain't nothing there to find”

I love that the quest was a journey of self-discovery but all that resulted was a hollowed-out husk of an addict. It is a powerful and deeply sad tune.

Like a lot of the best songs on the record, “Mine Forever” and “Twenty Long Years” have the underlying structure of old westerns. You don’t get a lot of westerns these days, and it was a welcome and well-accomplished journey updating some of those forms.

If only they’d been content with that and wrapped things up with nine songs and a lot of great memories. Instead, they bloat this record with seven more tracks that fall into three equally unpleasant categories.

The least unpleasant are a trio of song snippets, all around 90 seconds long. These aren’t tunes, but they feel like they could have been if more effort had been put in. I think they’re intended as palate cleansers between other tracks, but they should have either been fully realized as songs or left on the editing room floor as rejects that didn’t come together.

Remember the worst thing about mid-nineties rap albums? It was the skits! Well, not to be outdone, Lord Huron throws a trio of skits in here, mostly where some form of radio announcer is talking about “them there songs” that you could otherwise have just listened to, unmolested.

And in the “least forgivable” category the record ends with over 14 minutes of “Time’s Blur”. Never was a song more aptly named, as this pointless, meandering, formless bit of nothing blurs its way into your brain with mind-numbing slowness. Ever sit through the full credits of a movie? I mean past that first song they’re hoping is a radio hit, and also past the quirky second tune. Even past the forgotten oldie covered by some modern up-and-comer. Right to the end, where all you get is long lists of animators and stunt folks, accompanied by an atmospheric auditory nothing that hints that it is time to deposit your popcorn remnants in the trash and go outside before the lights come on. That’s “Time’s Blur”.

With so much going for it, “Long Lost” had no need for snippets, skits and movie scores, and yet they are inflicted on you nonetheless. It irritated me all the more knowing how solid the rest of this record is.

Best tracks: Mine Forever, Love Me Like You Used To, Twenty Long Years, Not Dead Yet

The Concert: Phillips Backyarder Festival, July 7, 2023 – Victoria BC

This was my third appearance at the annual Phillips Backyarder, so I knew what to expect. A lot of sun, surprisingly good sound quality and a whole lot of people watching. This year the band that drew me was Lord Huron, but I also wanted to see Skye Wallace and JJ Wilde.

Skye Wallace

I did not see her. She was the opener and in order to see her and the headliner (Lord Huron) would have meant six hours at the event (the Backyarder does not have in/out privileges). Sorry, Skye. I did buy her latest CD and a concert t-shirt, so she at least got some of my money. For what it is worth, I heard she was very good, and deserving of a better spot in the lineup.

Neal Francis

I did not want to see Neal Francis. I’d scouted his shows on line and knew he was a gratuitous noodler. Sadly, we arrived early, and I heard him anyway. He noodled a lot and generally sounded like someone trying to riff off of his parents’ record collection for songs that went on for 10+ minutes at a time. There was the occasional cool groove, but I can get that on songs I like. In future, he should be given the opener slot so Skye Wallace can get the crowd she deserves.

JJ Wilde

JJ Wilde (woman in white top in bad photo above) is a Canadian rock singer who brings a ton of energy to a show. The crowd seemed well acquainted with her stuff, but for me it was mostly new outside of a couple videos I’d watched to prep myself.

Wilde’s music isn’t innovative. She sounds like an amalgam of a lot of other rock acts across the ages. However, she sounds like all the best parts of those other rock acts. I liked it a lot and the sound man was also on point, bringing her across clear and vibrant (n.b. – we stood near the sound booth, which is always a smart move at an outdoor or stadium show).

I thought the tunes were real live kickers, and Wilde’s stage presence is infectious. She did lots of interactions with the audience, but never in a way that pulled focus from the music. She also showed off a serious set of pipes and seemed to genuinely have a good time. I’m not sure I’d buy her records at this point, but I would definitely see her live again.

Lord Huron

Prior to the show both Sheila and I expressed some misgivings about Lord Huron. I love their studio stuff, but it feels heavily overdubbed and produced, and those kinds of bands don’t always translate to a live show.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Lord Huron are amazing live. They were crystal clear, and were able to recreate that layered sound perfectly, while still adding in the organic quality that makes live music live.

The set decorations were a bit pretentious, with a fake tree and large “Stonehenge” type rock structure, it had me thinking of Spinal Tap. Despite that (welcome) silliness, Lord Huron plays with an earnestness and emotional honesty, even on tracks from their first record now over 10 years earlier. No songs were mailed in.

They did a good mix of old stuff and new stuff, and I heard most (but not all) of my favourites. Best of all was “Ghost on the Shore” which is one of my favourite songs from their debut album. The good stuff on the new album did not all get played, but I recall enjoying “Mine Forever” when it came on.

“Ghost on the Shore” is a slow and mysterious tune, as befits its “ghost story” subject matter. It was not well loved by the crowd, with a slight increase of traffic to the beer line up as it played. I overheard one young person exclaim “Oh, this is better” to the more up-tempo (but lesser) song that followed it. I tried hard not to hate this person and succeeded.

It was easy to like the crowd, which was well behaved, and generally respectful. At times they were even downright overfriendly, offering to take pictures for us, or just coming up to compliment us on our outfits. People-watching at festivals is a big part of the non-music related fun, and it makes it easier when the people are nice.

The one downside of the show was that in between songs Lord Huron do a lot of ambient sonics that felt uncomfortably like the filler from their last album. At one point I’m sure I heard the opening few minutes of “Time’s Blur” and was prepared to murder someone, but it quickly morphed into a better track, and all was forgiven.

Near the end of the set, Ben Schneider put on a cowboy hat and a death mask for a few songs that had a theme that matched. I found this costume change most excellent. Here’s a (poorly taken) picture:

Lord Huron ended their set with a big thank you to the crew (they did it twice, in fact) and right after doing so lead singer Ben Schneider’s mic crapped out. It was back in a couple of bars though, and you know it only returned through the quick action of the aforementioned crew.

I wouldn’t say I had a religious experience seeing Lord Huron, but it was one of the better shows I’ve seen in recent years and judging by the amount of their merch I saw walking about the place, they’ve got a built-in fan base should they decide to return. I hope they do.

CD Odyssey Disc 1567: Lord Huron

Apologies for the long absence, dear readers. It has been a busy week. So busy that I couldn’t even squeeze in a music review (or much of anything else). This means this next record got a lot listens. Good thing I like it. It is almost like this music collection was hand curated to my own tastes…

Disc 1567 is…. Lonesome Dreams

Artist: Lord Huron

Year of Release: 2012

What’s up with the Cover? A cowboy desert scene. This cover captures how vast the sky must seem when you are in the middle of a desert. Unfortunately, with this kind of “diffuse” art you can’t make out many features of the cowboy. Let’s call him ‘Earl’. The horse, of course, has no name.

How I Came To Know It: If memory serves my friend Casey played some Lord Huron songs at a gathering of our music club one night. If it was someone else, my apologies. In any event, I liked what I heard which led me to buy both this album and 2015’s “Strange Tales” which dates about when I heard about both records.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Lord Huron albums. This one and “Strange Tales” are in a dead heat for best of the bunch, and I didn’t want to pick until I’ve had a chance to review them both. However, since I don’t have a choice to delay (or more exactly won’t give myself a choice) I am going to put this album in at #2. I was going to put it #1 but after seeing a live performance of the band on KEXP, I changed my mind. More on that later.

Ratings: 4 stars

“Lonesome Dreams” has a haunting lilt to it that draws you in like a lucid dream. Each song flows gently into the next so seamlessly that before you know it the album has restarted for the fifth or sixth time without you even noticing. Like I said, I got a lot of listens in on this one.

Despite all those listens I was never restless or eager to move on to something else, which may be the best things that can be said about a record. It has re-listenability, and while I didn’t necessarily get something new on every iteration, I enjoyed them all.

Stylistically, Lord Huron doesn’t sound like any other band I can think of. They operate a space between folk and rock, but within a soup of diffuse production. I usually like a lot of space in my production decisions, but “Lonesome Dreams” showed me you can do it differently and still make it work.

The arrangements lend themselves to the dreamy production. Most of the songs have some form of a light gallop guitar strum, often with some other instrument (strings, tambourine, etc.) filling in the gaps. Lead singer (and songwriter) Ben Schneider’s vocals sit back in the mix with a lot of harmony in the background (either looping or another band member, not sure which) which makes it feel symphonic. This “chorus” sound is on virtually every single track which holds the record together. It is a lot of the same sound, and the songs tend to cycle within themselves as well, but strangely it never gets tiresome.

My favourite song on the record is “Ghost on the Shore,” in part because of how that sonic approach works so well for telling a ghost story. The other part is this some of Schneider’s best work lyrically. Here’s the second verse:

“Under the waves and the earth of an age
Lie a thousand old northerner’s graves
Deep in the night, when the moon’s glowing bright
They come rising up into the light.
I’ll die if I must, let my bones turn to dust
I’m the lord of the lake, and I don’t want to leave it
All who sail off the coast evermore
Will remember the tale of the ghost on the shore.

That is some creepy brilliance, packing shipwrecks, and dirt and bones up with the breathless excitement at wondering “was that just a trick of the moonlight, or did we see a ghost?” For the song at least, it’s pretty clear it’s the latter.

Connectivity plays a big part in the record’s themes. The ghost is connected to the landscape, and elsewhere we see characters chase after lost loves (“She Lit a Fire”), while others stand steadfast in the strength of the love of brothers facing adversity together (“Brother”).

“Ends of the Earth” is the most famous of those “let’s stand together” tunes. While it has not benefited from being overplayed in a million TV commercials over the years, but it is still a great song. Immeasurably better when not shilling for a product.

My only beef ended up being with that thing I had earlier forgiven, the production. That lush atmospheric sound had me under its spell until I heard a few of these songs played live. When I realized how shortchanged I’d been of the dynamics and tone of Schneider’s voice, which is a amazing when it isn’t so layered over, I became somewhat irked. For the first time I began to notice all the excess. The steel drums in “The Man Who Lives Forever” was particularly off-putting.

However, it was not so off-putting to interfere with the joy I get from “Lonesome Dreams.” It is a quality album, and the joy I experienced never flagged across multiple listens this week.

Best tracks: Ends of the Earth, Time To Run, The Ghost on the Earth, The Man Who Lives Forever, Brother