The Besnard Lakes
A Coliseum Complex Museum
Jagjaguwar

I used to like The Besnard Lakes quite a lot, especially around the release of their third album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night (2010). That's when I got to see them live in this very small club (Mono) in Oslo, which was a way cool night out. They have probably visited much bigger venues in later years. Jace Lasek is the brain and boss of The Besnard Lakes, as he is working from his home studio in Montreal. Along with his wife Olga Goreas (bass and vocals) and the rest of the players (Richard White, Sheenah Ko, Kevin Laing and Robbie MacArthur) the band continue the quest for the perfect atmospheric dream pop moment.

I was a bit sceptical after checking their last album, Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO (2013). It wasn't bad, it (the songs) just wasn't all too interesting. "The Bray Road Beast" is a fine opener and I really dig the cool, slow sway of "Golden Lion", but the album as a whole is not the magic, positive eyebrow-raiser I was hoping for. Well, I wasn't exactly hoping for a stunning album, I was just thinking (after hearing "Golden Lion"): Hmm, this could be a beauty coming up. And it's not bad. It's just that... well, the songs are nice and all. The album just sounds a bit too 'pale', lacking some of the important nerve. That said, A Coliseum Complex Museum is better than their last album. It might grow on me. It might be much better than I think it is. It is a comfortable listen, but its biggest strength is that it is a short album. Yet, this is a cure for pain album, sort of, but there's also a chance for getting slightly dizzy when listening through it.

Copyright © 2016 H. Oppøyen