Fog Lake, the project of Montreal-based Aaron Powell, has been a prominent voice in lo-fi and ambient singer-songwriting for over ten years, and is soon to return with his seventh album, ‘Hollowbody’, out November 13th. Having been written in just over three weeks in his home province of Newfoundland and built around a 1980s Tascam amp simulator bought on eBay, the album has already found itself grounded in the past, and its first single ‘Bogus’ explores this by looking back on bygone connections.

A through-line in much of Powell’s music is the dreamy nostalgia resonating from each track, and ‘Bogus’ emulates this well in a bright track underpinned by reflective lyrics about bad luck in love. Its brisk guitar sits in tension with Powell’s tender vocals, providing a fuzzy soundscape that is unmistakably Fog Lake, but still novel enough to provide something fresh. Whilst the track’s grainy acoustics are a definite standout, it is Powell’s modest lyricism that drives Bogus's wistful approach to love (“Oh well what can you do / Dying with or without you / Lord why / Longed but never for I”).

For Fog Lake, ‘Bogus’ is a compelling blend of old and new. Through a fine-tuning of the textured sound Aaron Powell is known for, it brings clarity in both its lyrics and instrumentals, but still leaves room to wonder what the rest of the record will offer.

Liesel Bradbury

Instagram / Substack

Image: ‘Hollowbody’ Official Album Cover

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