If Let’s Build A Roof, the latest record from Olympia’s Lake is going to be classified as a “Pop” record, then the record may have forged a new genre for eagers ears; patient-pop. From “Breathing,” the budding and rolling opener, one can’t help but envision a young couple in summertime, lying in the cool grass of their favourite park. Lake have crafted a record rich with harmonies that bring to mind a psychedelic leaning Belle & Sebastian; what Lake borrow from the Scottish legends is the ability to let their songs evolve in such a polite and never devious manner that listeners never feel left behind. Or by the same token, eager to skip to the next track.
Let`s Build A Roof blends elements of folk and gentle, tripped out psychedelia into a delightful listen. There is nothing impetuous about Let`s Build A Roof, even the fluid, subdued disco rhythms on “Don’t Give Up” seem as if they could have been born on that same park in that same summer. Everything clicks on Let’s Build A Roof with a delightful ease, from the lazy Sunday groove of “Loose Wind,” to the Cat Stevens meets Otis Redding slow dance that is “Remote Control Cars.”
This is a record that is meant to bring you back to simpler times, when romance was a reason to get up in the morning, instead of a forgotten emotion. Let’s Build A Roof doesn’t beat you over the head with complex schemes, but there is something rather remarkable that’s built on the record: a bridge between the harmonies that hang out way in the back of your subconscious and the speakers, playing Lake’s esteemed effort over and over again.
By Joshua Kloke
[Rating: 4/5]
