WATCH & STREAM: "Wonderful Sunlight" -
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Today LAKE, a band rooted in both the lush landscapes of the Puget Sound and the sprawl of Los Angeles, has announced a new LP, Bucolic Gone, out March 7 - you can pre-order it HERE. It will be the band's first release for Don Giovanni Records. LAKE has also shared the first single and video from the album, "Wonderful Sunlight," which you can watch HERE.
"Wonderful Sunlight" is an uplifting reflection that is looking to the past for answers to life’s fleeting miseries. With hypnotic, distorted pulsing rhythms reminiscent of Joy Division, “Wonderful Sunlight” juxtaposes heavy, distorted synths with moments of clarity and beauty. Soothing vocals rise above dense sonic layers, creating an atmosphere that is at once unsettling and transcendent—a golden rodeo of sound pulling listeners back toward the light.
About the video:
Shot entirely on Super-8, the video is unique in that it is a time capsule of the band and their relationship with filmmaker and songwriter Clyde Petersen, who shot and directed the video. Combining color footage of the band Clyde filmed on a tour in 2007 with new black & white film stock from 2023, there is a 1939 Wizard of Oz parallel, but also, the lyrics, “Go Back To The Wonderful Sunlight” represent the accessibility of our own colorful memories which we can fall back on for guidance. The majority of the unexposed film used was leftover stock from Clyde’s epic experimental documentary Even Hell Has Its Heroes, a 2023 film about the metal band Earth.
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After a five-year absence following 2020’s creative elevator-punk explosion Roundelay, Ashley Eriksson, Eli Moore, and Andrew Dorsett of LAKE return with Bucolic Gone, a mature and polished album that is at once groovy, upbeat, meditative, and slow-rolled. As LAKE’s 10th official full-length release, Bucolic Gone is a cohesive work of sophisti-pop that embodies an adult, contemporary sound—intimate, serene, mournful, and hopeful in equal measure.
The multi-instrumental trio is joined by an impressive lineup of collaborators, including guest vocalists Nicholas Krgovich on “Glad Rags” and Daisy Jaberi of Suver with original lyrics on “Love Is Deeper.” Frequent contributors also make appearances: Karl Blau delivers standout shredding on “Ferrari,” Mark Buzard of The Format provides guitar textures across multiple tracks, and New York jazz musician Eric Vanderbuilt-Matthews contributes intricate woodwind arrangements. Steve Moore (Earth, Sunn O))), First Aid Kit, Sufjan Stevens) adds trombone to “Love Is Deeper,” while legendary Canadian singer Jenn Grant lends her unique vocals to the outro of “Ferrari.”
From the sorrowful depths of “Blue Horizon” and “My Dear Brother”—written the day Eriksson lost her brother to COVID-19—to the clarity of self-soothing and healing in “Airplane” and “Love Is Deeper Now,” the emotional arc of Bucolic Gone moves from darkness to light. A heartfelt ABBA singalong pays tribute to Eriksson’s family and brother, while Moore reflects on his life as an artist in “Wonderful Sunlight,” mining uplifting memories for clues to life’s complexities. The album concludes with a breezy, surfy reprise of their cult hit “No Wonder I,” famously BMO’s favorite song in the popular international animated series, Adventure Time.
Recorded at The Anacortes Unknown Recording Studio by longtime collaborator Nicholas Wilbur and in the band’s own home studios, Bucolic Gone marks another step forward for Eli Moore in production and mixing. His meticulous attention to arrangement and balance—alongside an arsenal of distorted “whatchamacallits”—creates a rich, layered sound.
Celebrating 20 years of ethereal, yearning pop songs, LAKE’s latest effort is their most produced but also most intimate album. Now signed to Don Giovanni Records, the band is ready to continue delivering jams. While the world has changed since LAKE’s last official release, Bucolic Gone shows that time has been on their side.
TOUR DATES:
March 8 - Los Angeles, CA - 2220 Arts (Record Release Show)
March 10 - 15 - Austin, TX - SXSW
LAKE
Bucolic Gone
(Don Giovanni)
Street Date: March 7, 2025
Pre-order it here
Track Listing:
Side One
Bucolic Gone
Ferrari
Airplane
Glad Rags
Love is Deeper Now
Side Two
Blue Horizon
My Dear Brother
The Way Old Friends Do
Wonderful Sunlight
No Wonder I
LAKE LINKS:
Bandcamp
Instagram
Twitter
Don Giovanni Records
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