An album mixing up melodic folk rock with moments of Van Occupanther harmonies through visitations of banjo and fiddle to the polite wrist-slashing melancholy of The Cowboy Junkies, this is the fourth outing for Toronto's Great Lake Swimmers. Writer and lead singer Tony Dekker has gained a reputation as one of those 'undiscovered' lyricists. I'd concur - with the minor quibble that very occasionally he tries to cram too many words for his own good into the available space of a song line. Their eponymous debut album was recorded in an abandoned grain silo for its reverb acoustics, and this album too has tried to capture a particular spirit by being recorded in various locations in a generally historic (Colonial Wars) area known as the Thousand Islands. The Lost Channel is Canada's own Bermuda Triangle - a small boat party from a British warship went missing there inexplicably during this time. There's nothing quantifiable you'll actually hear resulting from this decision - it was taken more as a general stimulus for the band: "I started to realize that recording in a space that is charged with a certain energy, it really draws a certain kind of performance out of you, and it becomes central to the whole creative process ... There's always a 50/50 chance it won't work out. It's thrilling". Directly attributable or not, the album does have a beautiful rich tone and sunlit quality.Lost Channels kicks off wonderfully in jangly 'Losing My Religion' fashion. Dekker's voice has none of the piercing whine of Mr Stipe though. His delivery is flatter and more tentative throughout this album, subtly effective once your ear tunes in to it. Comparisons have been made with Iron & Wine and inevitably with Canadian Godfather Neil Young (in Young's gentler, more youthful moments). 'Everything Is Moving So Fast' sees the band unplug and drifts past in a soothing shimmering haze of male/female vocals before preview single 'Pulling On A Line' surfaces to lift the tempo once more to that of the opener - with echoes of bright 10,000 Maniacs instrumentation.What follows is the most beautiful song of the year so far. Dekker, a country boy before moving to Toronto, often analyses his/our natural surroundings and his/our place within it, but here he transposes his emotions onto the urban landscape of central Toronto; its environs bringing back memories of a past love: "This was the centre of the world for me once". The famous CN tower features: "This is the place where I felt / Like the world's tallest self-supporting tower / At least for a little while anyway". That final phrase is the regretful twist of the knife and clever: drawing a parallel with the replacement of said CN Tower in the record books now. Swooning cello lines will dip down and scoop out your heart to leave it splattered on the sidewalk just beside his own.'The Chorus in the Underground' takes a turn back to a more old time rootsy sound. Its featured instruments appear again on 'New Light' supplemented by liquid chamber orchestra and flute. The rest of the tracks continue to flit between uppers and downers - the jump from the virtually solo 'Stealing Tomorrow' to the massed acoustic 'wall of strum' of 'Still' having the greatest contrast. While most of the highlights occur in the first half, the Fleet Foxes harmonies of 'River's Edge' linger hauntingly amidst the more contemplative, but no less engaging, second half of the album. I must admit to this being my first full exposure to a band whose name had registered but had not yet been explored - just one of many occupying my own crowded musical Bermuda Triangle. The internet suggests either their first or previous (Ongaria) may be stronger. If that is true, then by this benchmark I'd better pick those up sharpish. On the other hand, I might just throw this back on and relax. It's more than good enough for now.77%Great Lake Swimmers on MySpace