Tony Dekker has gleaned a great deal of musical inspiration from the Ontario landscapes he's spent life surveying.
And in turn his band -
Great Lake Swimmers - has earned a healthy following in this part of the country, as much for the quality of Dekker's melodic folk songs as for the way in which they reflect the places that birthed them.
On the brand new GLS release
Lost Channels, as much remains true.
The album, which hit stores Tuesday, reunites fans with Dekker's sweet but seasoned voice and knack for catchy songwriting that's at once simple and robust.
And it also takes cues from a part of the province Dekker had never really connected with before.
Recorded at a variety of locations in and around the Thousand Islands including Brockville, Ont., the disc at once introduced Dekker and company to the area and attempts to do the same for those who will come to hear it.
"For the short amount of time we were there, it (the region) found its way into the songs, but it was more about documenting the space," Dekker said Tuesday while driving from Vancouver to Portland.
"I came to the band with the majority of the songs written, it was just a matter of choosing the location to record in."
That decision was made much easier after a stint in Gananoque, Ont. on
Stuart McLean's Vinyl Café that was caught by area historian and photographer
Ian Coristine, whose topographical photo would come to serve as the album's cover art.
"He heard us on that program and instantly connected to the music," Dekker recalls.
"When the time came to record I got in touch with him in terms of interesting acoustic spaces ... to be honest I didn't know too much about the region."
The fresh locale - as well as a tweaked approach to songwriting partially inspired by Dekker's admitted obsession with country legends
The Carter Family - helped breath fresh creative air into a project that featured more or less the same band and guest contributors as did critically-acclaimed 2007 release
Ongiara, the group's fourth.
"For this album in particular I was trying to be more concise, focusing on the song as the medium, expressing something in simple terms," Dekker adds, admitting it inspired hookier, poppier results than some of the group's long-standing fans might have come to expect.
"The new record is kind of split into a Side A and a Side B," he continues. "Side A is up tempo ... Side B is quieter and more atmospheric."
But there
are common threads, even as Dekker, his music and group constantly evolve. Past associates including
Serena Ryder and
Bob Egan lend stability to the recordings, he assures.
What longtime fans of the group will think of the newest effort remains to be seen. But rather than bog down with release parties and promotional stops Great Lake Swimmers are spending April on the road in the U.S., far from the Eastern Ontario stretch that lends itself to the disc and the band's current base Toronto.
Still, Dekker was quick to express the utmost confidence in his newest creative birth, believing in time it will have little problem speaking for itself.
"As an artist you always think your latest work is your best work, that's the one that you're really getting behind," he insists. "And the responses at the shows have just been outstanding."
That said, the month will culminate with a sort of homecoming, an April 25th show to be held, appropriately enough, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
It will be Ontario's first live introduction to the new disc, one Dekker expects will resonate with a crowd made up of his biggest and oldest fans.
"I've heard amazing things about the venue," he says.
"I think the band's going to be in top form after being on the road for a couple of months, and I think it's going to be a really special night."
Lost Channels (Nettwerk) is the fifth album from Great Lake Swimmers and is available everywhere.
Photos Courtesy Nettwerk Music Group/Great Lake Swimmers
aaron.miller@citynews.ca