Somewhere along the way, Pacific Northwestern band
LAKE
found their groove, and it is an exceptionally smooth one. Formed in 2005 in Olympia, Washington, the group was at first descendant of the same rough-edged
K Records
influences as peers like
Mega Bog
or
Iji
, but around the time of their 2011 album
Giving & Receiving
, they grew fully into a sound that drew from laid-back soft rock pacing and understated yet sophisticated instrumentation. The band's tenth proper album,
Bucolic Gone
, continues the gentle expansion of the smart, easy groove that they have been riding ever since. Kicking off with the title track,
offer up another example of the kind of spare but involved back-and-forth song structure they excel at, again building an entire intricate world of tight vocal harmonies, dubby textures, and euphoric swells of guitar and synth, all contained within what could easily pass for a two-chord tune. "Ferrari" is animated and upbeat, rolling along happily with vocalist
Ashley Eriksson
leading the charge. It's a song with multiple car references that feels like a breezy top-down joyride on a summer day. Again, the instrumentation here is the star of the show, with subtle flashes of saxophone, fluttery electronics, and vocoded vocals adding just a dash of '80s pastels to the mix.
bring in guest vocalists on a few tracks, with
Nicholas Krgovich
singing on the bright and optimistic pop of "Glad Rags" and
Daisy Jaberi
of
Suver
penning original lyrics and singing on the sweetly devotional "Love Is Deeper Now." As with many of
's records,
recalls the meditative danceability of
the Talking Heads
or the lighter-than-air atmospheres of
Sade
; however, they also bring in a wide palette of sounds that augment their groove-bound song skeletons, as well as the collective songwriting personality they've been honing as a band for nearly 20 years at this point. It's an album of easily digestible, soft-to-the-touch arrangements and relaxed, cheerful performances, but it's also one built on sentiments of gratitude and wonder that go a little bit deeper than the easygoing groove that
have made their home over the years. ~ Fred Thomas