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Great Lake Swimmers Ongiara
Nettwerk Records
The title of the album, Ongiara, is coined after the Toronto Harbor boat that carried the band Great Lake Swimmers to their initial recording sessions on the Toronto Island. Although this is true, the album was mainly recorded in Aeolian Hall in the heart of London, Ontario. Why did they decide to name the album after this ship of the past? Sweet sentiment and homage to the vessel that initially carried them to the place they arrived at now? Maybe, but whatever the reason, it just works without questioning.
Track listing:
01 Your Rocky Spine
02 Backstage With The Modern Dancers
03 Catcher Song
04 Changing Colours
05 There Is A Light
06 Put There By The Land
07 I Am Part Of A Large Family
08 Where In The World Are You
09 Passenger Song
10 I Became Awake
Ongiara is the third release from the Canadian band whose music could be described as a delicious feast of indie folk, roots melodies and alternative-country pop. Tony Dekker, the singer/songwriter behind the musical project Great Lake Swimmers, uses warm, comforting vocals and graceful lyrics to hypnotize the listener into a peaceful state of conscience.
Along with Dekker, an array of talented musicians play on a variety of instruments, including the banjo, glockenspiel, timpani, autoharp, and violin. Erik Arnesen and Colin Huebert, along with Dekker, make the magical core that is Great Lake Swimmers. Accompanying the band on Ongiara the album features guest appearances by musicians Serena Ryder, Bob Egan, Sarah Harmer and Owen Pallett of Arcade Fire – which only adds to the gala of sound.
I was lost in the lakes.
And the shapes that your body makes
That your body makes, that your body makes…
Such simple lyrics, articulated in a hypnotic fashion with exquisite instrumentation makes the opening track on Ongiara a fine starting point for a striking album. “Your Rocky Spine” could be Dekker lost in the silhouette of a lover’s body, the landscape of beautiful mountains or a combination of both masterpieces.
“Backstage with the Modern Dancers” is the succeeding track brimming with sweet humming, simplistic chorus and mesmerizing plucking of the banjo, autoharp and cello. The track is a bit of an apathetic tale in which Dekker watches a dancer stretching as he tunes his guitar. When she leaves him to take the stage, Dekker can only sit there thinking of "songs I can sing by myself".
The last track on the album “I Became Awake” adds the perfect closure to this resonant album. Dekkar sings about being alone for most of the album, and now here he is virtually by himself yet mysteriously he’s somehow accompanied by gorgeous backing vocals.
Together we are magic,
Together we are dreaming,
Together we reach endlessly
These elementary lyrics ironically tie together this deep, and emotionally charged album.
Great lake Swimmers have toured with a myriad of talented musicians and bands: Andrew Bird, Final Fantasy, Akron/Family, and Feist just to name of a few. At this point they are one those bands you may be lucky enough to stumble upon catching as an opening act for a larger, more well know band, but that’s probably about to change. Ongiara stands on its own as a unique and charming album that should be admired and adored, not just as a great indie folk album, but as one of those great albums of 2007.
