Red Ryder Entertainment

Toronto indie-folk/rock darlings Great Lake Swimmers return with New Wild Everywhere (April 3, 2012), their fifth studio album and follow up to 2009's Juno and Polaris-nominated album Lost Channels.  

New Wild Everywhere captures all of the excitement and intuitive musicianship of a group at the peak of their creative powers, with 12 new tracks that reveal a depth and maturity only previously hinted at by lead singer and songwriter Tony Dekker. Produced by longtime Great Lake Swimmers' collaborator Andy Magoffin, New Wild Everywhere marks the first time in the band's history that an album was recorded in a real studio (Toronto's Revolution Recording); past albums have been famously recorded in historic churches, castles, music venues and more. 

“We wanted to try something new, expand our horizons, and flex a bit of the creative muscle we've built up through years of touring,” says Dekker. “It came as a bit of a surprise how well we functioned as a band in that [studio] environment. We were able to focus completely on the songs, rather than the logistical obstacles of waiting for the boat to dock, or the rain to stop.”

Featuring the touring band from Lost Channels (long-time collaborator Erik Arnesen on banjo and guitar, along with new addition Miranda Mulholland contributing backing vocals and violin, Bret Higgins on upright bass, and drummer Greg Millson), New Wild Everywhere thematically picks up where the previous album left off, exploring transcendence in the natural world to describe the universal themes of love, mortality and escape.  

Great Lake Swimmers will be touring extensively behind the release of New Wild Everywhere.  A full tour announcement is expected in the coming weeks, but the band has already confirmed an initial round of Canadian and European tour dates, starting on Thursday, April 5 in Montreal; joining the band in North America is support act Cold Specks.  

Dekker has spent the last decade entrancing listeners with his unforgettable voice and compelling songwriting.  Great Lake Swimmers have long been a word-of-mouth favorite in their home country of Canada for whom critical mass was inevitable. They've been regarded as a national treasure by the CBC, with Lost Channels (2009) topping the charts at CBC Radio 3 and on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter Chart.  In the U.S., Lost Channels debuted at #10 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and was a favorite among influential bloggers and NPR staff.  The band has received public endorsements by the likes of Feist, Robert Plant, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams and cyclist Lance Armstrong. The latter two have both raved about the band on their personal websites; the former have handpicked the band to open shows and whole tours. Josh Groban has been known to open his show with a Great Lake Swimmers cover, and the band has shared the stage with such varied artists as Calexico, Sarah Harmer, Bela Fleck & The Sparrow Quartet, Hayden, Goldfrapp, and Bill Callahan of Smog.

Posted on 01/24/2012 at 03:01:35 PM by Erik Selz