DOWNLOAD THEN SEE: The Besnard Lakes

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on May 24, 2010 7:45PM

The Besnard Lakes' latest album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night, came out a few months ago and has been in heavy rotation ever since. Husband and wife team Olga Goreas and Jace Lasek head up this quartet, blending their voices together in dreamy, beautiful, arcing arrangements. The band comes together to create huge washes of sound that steadily but gently propel the listener ever upward.

"Albatross" is one of the albums stand-out tracks and it does a lovely job of providing the dreamy, gauzy pop that makes their latest album such a delight to immerse and lose yourself in. It's tender opening slowly builds, grafting Beach Boys harmonies behind Goreas' sweetly yearning vocals, growing ever grander as instruments slowly make their way in before exploding in a final triumphant chorus. And the album is just full of that sort of thing so if you enjoy the taste below then we think The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night may find its way onto your best-of music list this year ... because we're pretty sure it's gonna make it onto ours.

The band is actually in town this evening to play a free show in the Jay Prizker Pavilion in Millennium Park to kick off the city's Downtown Sound series of Monday evening concerts, so we highly suggest you head and catch their set. We also recommend getting there early since local rockers The Ponys are opening and this is a good chance to see what they've been working on while they were on their recently ended hiatus. Bring a blanket and we'll see you there.

MP3: The Besnard Lakes "Albatross"

The Besnard Lakes and The Ponys play tonight, Monday May 24 at the Jay Prizker Pavilion in Millennium Park, 6:30 p.m., FREE, all ages