LISTEN: Great Lake Swimmers Dig Deep in New Ballad “The Great Bear”

“A Forest of Arms” is out April 21 on Nettwerk
LISTEN: Great Lake Swimmers Dig Deep in New Ballad “The Great Bear”

“A Forest of Arms” is out April 21 on Nettwerk

Words: Nate Rogers

photo by Marina Manushenko

March 24, 2015

2015. Great Lake Swimmers press photo by Marina Manushenko

Since 2003, Tony Dekker has led the indie folk group Great Lake Swimmers across a variety of landscapes and regions in both the spirit of the music as well the literal locations that they’ve recorded. Previously, the band ventured into such diverse locations as a grain silo and an old church to record, and for their latest, they really outdid themselves, retreating to—no joke—the Tyendinaga Cavern and Caves in Ontario, where they laid down some of the vocal and guitar parts for A Forest of Arms, the band’s sixth LP.

One of the tracks they worked on down in the caves was “The Great Bear,” an ambitious piano ballad written during Dekker’s time with the World Wildlife Fund, which brought him to the Great Bear Rainforest region of British Columbia. “The song focuses on the beauty of the region, and also on humanity’s frightening ability to draw (and not draw) lines,” says Dekker. “It was fascinating to see firsthand the nature of the ecosystems and the pristine forests, and at the same time, understand the need for their protection from the corporate interests that would threaten its survival.”

Ahead of this, the band has already shared the singles “Zero In the City” and “I Must Have Someone Else’s Blues” from A Forest of Arms, and now we have “The Great Bear” available to listen below, straight from the caves. Don’t get lost down there.

A Forest of Arms is out April 21 via Nettwerk.