Rating: 8.1 April 7th IAMSOUND Records Find It: Official Store
Sitting pretty in the background of a faceless adventure, Lord Huron’s Ben Schneider and his band of merry men emerge out of the woodwork with Strange Trails, a selection of songs for directionless road trips. The group’s sophomore album forages through unknown lands and pieces together California surf stylings and a spaghetti Western aesthetic that’ll hold you in a perpetual state of wanderlust. It harbors a darker edge than the harmonious, modern cowboy routine of Lonesome Dreams, yet the restlessness is still intact as Schneider never allows a lull to take center stage. If he’s not exhaling smoky strains that flow like a cooling summer fog on hot pavement (“La Belle Fleur Sauvage”, “The Yawning Grave”), he’s wailing about demonic resurrection on “The World Ender”, cruising top down into the darkness of an L.A. night. The melancholic imagery comes with fleeting romanticism, but Strange Trails still strums out the campfire ballads and elicits poems that will have you dreaming of an otherworldly escape.
Listen: “The World Ender”, “Until The Night Turns”, “Love Like Ghosts” || Watch: “Fool For Love”