It seems only fitting that a number of strange occurrences contributed to the final outcome of the Besnard Lakes' fourth album, Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO, which arrived this week courtesy of Outside Music/Jagjaguwar. But as co-mastermind Jace Lasek tells Exclaim!, that seems to be the pattern every time the Montreal space rockers release something new.
"Just after we finished the cover painting of the burning horse for our Dark Horse album, our drummer Kevin [Laing], who's also a chef, had his face burned in a grease fire," Lasek says. "About a month ago, Kevin was standing on his terrace when he saw three glowing orbs in the sky. He didn't want to tell anyone because he thought people would just think it was a marketing ploy for the new album. But we managed to find another guy who saw the same thing."
By then, Lasek had already determined to stick with Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO as the title, a phrase that appeared in a Google-translated review of the band's last show in Paris.
"It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen written about us, and I had to use it for something," Lasek says. "I also didn't want to have another album be called The Besnard Lakes Are… I was getting the feeling that if I was a fan, I'd be rolling my eyes if I saw that again. Our label was also pleading with us not to do that again, because it's a nightmare when it comes to indexing. So it turned out to be the perfect opportunity to use this phrase I had stored away."
Although Until in Excess stays true to the Besnard Lakes' epic sound, there is less of an overarching theme compared to the band's previous albums, and it contains what may turn out to be their first true single, "People of the Sticks," written by bassist/vocalist (and Lasek's wife) Olga Goreas.
It was one of the songs previewed during the select dates the Besnard Lakes performed last fall, which included a three-night opening stand for Dinosaur Jr. in Toronto. J Mascis joined them on the final night, a moment Lasek still recalls with awe.
"I was shaking, I couldn't believe it," Lasek says. "I'd kind of met him before but not in the sense that he would remember me. We spent a little bit of time with him over the course of those three days, but he's a man of few words and keeps to himself. Being able to play with him is something I'll never forget."
As previously reported, the Besnard Lakes will be taking their new album out on some tour dates, which you can see here.
"Just after we finished the cover painting of the burning horse for our Dark Horse album, our drummer Kevin [Laing], who's also a chef, had his face burned in a grease fire," Lasek says. "About a month ago, Kevin was standing on his terrace when he saw three glowing orbs in the sky. He didn't want to tell anyone because he thought people would just think it was a marketing ploy for the new album. But we managed to find another guy who saw the same thing."
By then, Lasek had already determined to stick with Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO as the title, a phrase that appeared in a Google-translated review of the band's last show in Paris.
"It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen written about us, and I had to use it for something," Lasek says. "I also didn't want to have another album be called The Besnard Lakes Are… I was getting the feeling that if I was a fan, I'd be rolling my eyes if I saw that again. Our label was also pleading with us not to do that again, because it's a nightmare when it comes to indexing. So it turned out to be the perfect opportunity to use this phrase I had stored away."
Although Until in Excess stays true to the Besnard Lakes' epic sound, there is less of an overarching theme compared to the band's previous albums, and it contains what may turn out to be their first true single, "People of the Sticks," written by bassist/vocalist (and Lasek's wife) Olga Goreas.
It was one of the songs previewed during the select dates the Besnard Lakes performed last fall, which included a three-night opening stand for Dinosaur Jr. in Toronto. J Mascis joined them on the final night, a moment Lasek still recalls with awe.
"I was shaking, I couldn't believe it," Lasek says. "I'd kind of met him before but not in the sense that he would remember me. We spent a little bit of time with him over the course of those three days, but he's a man of few words and keeps to himself. Being able to play with him is something I'll never forget."
As previously reported, the Besnard Lakes will be taking their new album out on some tour dates, which you can see here.
