Brighton date for Great Lake Swimmers on back of new album

Based in Southern Ontario, they emerged in the early 2000s with a succession of heavily-atmospheric albums recorded in old silos and rural country churches. The music developed amid pastoral warmth, performed and recorded in acoustically resonant and historic places with a revolving cast of personnel. Their live shows have become known for homespun folk and lush, intimate Americana.

But with the latest album, they set about things slightly differently, says Tony Dekker: “This album came out in October and it's the fastest we have ever done any album. We recorded it in three days and we had two days of overdubs. That was always the intention. We wanted to set up a kind of Nashville-style session. We had a great studio band and there was a lot of trust and faith put into the whole process. I had made sure that it was all set up beforehand and then we just did it in those three days plus the days of overdubs.

“The idea was not to labour over the small things. We wanted the sound of live musicians playing in a room together which given the way music is heading felt like a bit of a counterbalance. We also wanted to keep the rawness of doing it live, to keep the signature sound of the room and of the players and just not to sweat the small stuff. And you can hear it. I think there is an immediacy and an urgency and a rawness on the album. Maybe I would usually do ten or 15 takes on previous albums to get the vocals right. Doing it at a much faster pace was new for me and I think I've really got a taste for it. I'd like to think that we will continue that idea.”

Themes of spirituality in nature and in the natural world are hallmarks for the band: “But I think that has started to surface even more in this latest work, just really the idea of being in tune with our natural surroundings. I think that really comes across on this album.

“The album came out in October. The first album came out in 2000, and just coming out of Covid we had our twenty-year anniversary. This will be our ninth band album. There have been gaps. Covid was a gap. We worked on an album for most of the pandemic. It took about three years to come out so there was a little gap there.”

As for the UK tour: “With every album cycle we come across from Canada. We're excited to be back for sure. We have built up a small but mighty following over the years and we have a great hardcore fanbase. It's nice to be going to some familiar places. The band has definitely been a slow burn. We have been flying under the radar for much of our career but there are people now that have just found out about our ninth album and have now got the rest to discover. But it's always been a great experience for us to be in the UK, and we love playing Brighton. It's a wonderful seaside town with a great audience.”