Lord Huron- Strange Trails

One of the most dramatic shifts in the music industry over the last decade has been how we access the music itself. Gone are the days of heading down to your local record store in search of your latest fix, leaving MTV on in the background (much to the annoyance of mum and dad) in the hope that your new favorite band comes on, playing that new record for weeks on repeat (again pissing off the parents to your delight). With this dramatic shift we have also changed the way we find music and I would argue that it is now harder for any artist to cut through the thousands of others trying to reach your ears. What hasn’t changed, however, is that quality music will always shine through and in the case of Lord Huron, that was exactly what happened for me.

On my first listen to ‘Strange Trails’, I felt it was quite an unashamedly ‘Pop’ record, a very palatable mix of simple, catchy tunes, not particularly engaging, not particularly offensive either but, there was something that drew me back in. The music inspires images of old-world America, vast landscapes of red rock desert, riding on horseback, exploration of the unknown, like Johnny Cash and Brian Wilson got lost in the desert and had nothing better to do than write a great record. It also feels homegrown, each sound has been cultivated to create an atmosphere, there are hidden sitars, shimmering electric guitars and haunting backing vocals with bucketloads of reverb. This is a record born out of one person’s inspired interpretation of music.

Founding member Ben Schneider started ‘Lord Huron’ as a solo project and his unique approach to song arrangement creates a wonderful atmosphere. Hailing from Los Angeles, he initially released some ep’s, later adding players from his friend circle to help with live shows. I saw them perform recently in Berlin for the ‘Vide Noir’ tour and towards the end of the set he introduced all of them saying that ‘these are all my friends’. If you have ever seen artists play with session musicians, the distinction is clear, whilst it may be an exceptional performance in all regards there is an intangible bond missing. I played and toured with a band for 8 years and from personal experience, it is like being married to three, often smelly, intolerable and argumentative individuals with no makeup sex to make it bearable. However, out of this relationship comes a brotherly bond that translates directly onto stage and as a member of the audience, you can feel it. In the case of Lord Huron, this was absolutely apparent.

My one complaint with ‘Strange Trails’ is that the mix can sometimes feel squeezed as if there are so many ideas, musical fragments, fighting for their own place, that there is simply not enough room for everything. I was able to separate sounds out a bit by using a high-quality DAC through my home set up but even a more portable solution would give better results and I recommend a DAC to get the most out of any record listened to digitally. That being said it is refreshing to hear a record with such attention to dynamics, the arrangement still shines through. Particular favorites of mine are ‘Until the Night Turns’, ‘La Belle Fleur Sauvage’, ‘Meet Me in the Woods’ and probably the most commercially well-known record, ‘The Night We Met’. ‘Strange Trails’ is a record that will take you on a journey, it is filled with imagination and inspired songwriting and whilst the age of finding new music via MTV has passed, ‘Lord Huron’ showed me that nothing will stop great music from finding its audience.