The folk-tinged music of the Canadian band, Great Lake Swimmers, bears a striking resemblance to Red House Painters, with a hint of milder R.E.M. to chase the sound with.  However, this comparison does not relate just how good this band actually is.  The music found on Lost Channels is wonderful to listen to, especially if you’re in the kind of mood that would bring out your Red House Painter discs.

Lyrically, the songs on all twelve tracks are engaging and introspective, philosophically asking the questions that we all ask of no one in particular.  They contemplate our futures and our intentions as we move thorough an unforgiving landscape of experiences.  They consider the heat that rises beneath us even in the chill of the night, metaphorically speaking. 

Tony Dekker is the residing songwriter and so it is his mind that we are listening to as we move through this set as a sort of journey.  And music is like that.  The better songs take us by the hand, lead us through thoughts, desires, and hardships that we thought we were the only victims of.  With this kind of sharing of feelings, the music tends to stay with us for years as it helps to shape our own outlook on life, even ease built-up pressures.

Lost Channels is a memorable album, one that will hold the same kind of ground that Red House Painter’s introspective Ocean Beach holds after these many years.  There are songs on Lost Channels that may never leave your consciousness much as “Summer Dress” has never left mine.  I couldn’t tell you which because they all speak differently to everyone.  One thing is for certain, Lost Channels is a complete album, every song a reflective good one, a story unforgotten.