lord huron the ghost on the shore meaning

Undeniably, the soundtrack to these stories lies far beyond the Upper Peninsula even if their sense of pathos never quite leaves.Ĭarved carefully into the center of Lonesome Dreams is record about places and travel. In fact, Schneider is hugely gracious (in 2010 he sent all the bloggers who wrote about him in the previous year an exclusive cover of “Auld Lang Syne” as a New Years’ thank you) and draws on a tradition beyond Koenig’s Columbia-cribbing of Afro-pop, often suggesting his Michigan roots and love of the West drive his narratives. Schneider cares little for this type of socio-political wrangling or the notion that his work as Lord Huron fits into a larger narrative about white people pulling their influences from 300-level courses in Ethnomusicology. The search was still out there, and pop grew more global, not less. If you liked your coffee trade fair, how could you have a miniature Berlin Conference in your iTunes? These were all first world problems. Just how guilty were we supposed to feel about these stolen global influences, made by unapologetic and clean-cut white dudes, in our music collections? It wasn’t simply what “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and “Under African Skies” sounded like, it was what they stood for. Ezra Koenig was cast as the next-generation Brown Shirt in the war to exploit those genres, and those people, who didn’t have access to the A&R staff at XL Records. It’s no secret that Lord Huron’s Lonesome Dreams isn’t necessarily new territory - NPR’s Global Cafe cornered this market long ago, and Vampire Weekend, you could argue, ruined everything for everyone, becoming a reverent place-holder for all who used World Pop influences and an epithet for the long tradition of those who felt Paul Simon, being so openly and commercially derivative, tacitly supported Apartheid on Graceland. Trafficking in globalized pop that borders on the neocolonial, Lord Huron often sounds relentlessly worldly, like a lost indie rock soundtrack to the Lion King, or an Enya record that emerged from the post-Local Natives LA folk scene, or, most flatteringly, a 20-years-later Rhythm of the Saints tribute album. The truth, the right girl, the right sound, all of it, Schneider suggests, is somewhere out there.

This search, like the record in question, channels both the aspiration and insouciance of chasing the infinite. The album is a record of wanderlust in form and function. It is a pretty and precious aside, a passing bit of commentary recast as a genre thesis statement.

Just make sure that next time you leave the house you don’t forget to have this record pouring out of your headphones and into your ears.Ben Schneider of Lord Huron whispers, “There is a river that winds on forever, I’m gonna see where it leads,” the first lyrics on his debut LP Lonesome Dreams. Lonesome Dreams is a traveller’s companion, one whose expansive, roaming musical quality is matched by its lyrical imagery and ambitious production. In The Wind unfurls into a beautiful love song, closing proceedings triumphantly. Lullaby is another serene, porch-light moment, one that leaves you drifting towards a clear, starry sky.Įlsewhere, She Lit A Fire is about searching for a lost love, I Will Be Back One Day explores a similar theme and is built on a warm slide guitar riff, while The Man Who Lives Forever contemplates death but seemingly overcomes it, with joyous glockenspiel and a full, chest-busting sound. The Ghost On The Shore achieves its scenic quality with echoed vocals and heavy orchestration, as the production shines again and maintains the album’s desert feel. These momentous, yearning songs are broken with more reflective moments. Time To Run and Lonesome Dreams, too, bound in at breakneck speed. It is the story of a love that, well, would go to the ends of the earth. Opener Ends Of The Earth glows like a desert horizon at sundown and fills the heart with its descending, almost Middle Eastern riff. The production does an incredible job of complimenting such a mood, giving the whole LP a spacious, infinite appeal as songs arrive in a gathering storm. Lyrically it is illuminated by images of nature and the wild, and tells tales of love and travelling. It’s bold Americana, set very firmly in the western USA and coming replete with all the requisite slide guitars, thunderous beats, dancing banjo lines and unearthly harmonies. Publisher on 8 January 2013 at 1:53 pm Endorsed by one Guy Garvey, Lord Huron’s debut album is one release that definitely should NOT be given the ElbowĮavily endorsed by Guy Garvey, Lord Huron’s debut album finds a band arriving fully-formed.

Lord huron the ghost on the shore meaning