Great Lake Swimmers

Canadian folk mainstays Great Lake Swimmers have revealed plans for their next full-length album. The Waves, The Wake will arrive on August 17 via Nettwerk.

The band returns to Sudbury on Saturday, September 29th at The Townehouse Tavern. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 13th, 10am.

The new LP was recorded in a 145-year-old church in London, ON, and hears frontman Tony Dekker abandoning his usual instrument of choice. He ditched the acoustic guitar this time around — even on songs that were initially written on six strings, like “The Talking Wind,” he transposed the notes into woodwind arrangements.

“Over the process of writing and recording The Waves, The Wake I became somewhat disenchanted with the sound of the standard acoustic guitar and typical folk-rock lineup,” Dekker said in a statement. “So with the help of co-producer Chris Stringer we tried to find ways to expand the palette of acoustic instrumentation to include woodwinds, harp, congas, marimba, vibraphone, piano and lute. The focus was to find musicians and arrangers that would suit the songs, rather than have a regular backing band as we have done in the past, and that resulted in a more minimalist, scaled back approach.”

He also called the upcoming album the most “varied” record the band have ever made, which he hopes will be reflected in their live set-up, as well. In addition to upcoming shows throughout the spring, Great Lake Swimmers will embark on a tour of western Canada this fall. See the upcoming dates below.

Furthermore, the band has teased the new record with a video for “The Talking Wind.” The opening track will also appear on a teaser EP dubbed Side Effects, which features three songs from the upcoming full-length. That release is due out April 13.